From coupled elementary units to the complexity of the glass transition

TL;DR

This paper uses computer simulations to analyze supercooled liquids, revealing how elementary units and their coupling influence glass transition properties like dynamic length scales and structural relaxation.

Contribution

It identifies the roles of elementary subsystems and their coupling in glass formers using finite-size effects within the continuous-time random walk framework.

Findings

CRR contain complete thermodynamic and diffusivity information

Coupling determines structural relaxation

Dynamic length scales emerge from coupling effects

Abstract

Supercooled liquids display fascinating properties upon cooling such as the emergence of dynamic length scales. Different models strongly vary with respect to the choice of the elementary subsystems (CRR) as well as their mutual coupling. Here we show via computer simulations of a glass former that both ingredients can be identified via analysis of finite-size effects within the continuous-time random walk framework. The CRR already contain complete information about thermodynamics and diffusivity whereas the coupling determines structural relaxation and the emergence of dynamic length scales.