Growing point-to-set length scale correlates with growing relaxation times in model supercooled liquids

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a correlation between the thermodynamic point-to-set length scale and the growth of relaxation times in supercooled liquids, providing insights into the glass transition.

Contribution

It introduces the first measurement of the thermodynamic point-to-set length scale in canonical models and links it quantitatively to relaxation time growth.

Findings

Point-to-set length scale correlates with relaxation times

Supercooled liquids with similar pair distribution functions can have different dynamics

Results help distinguish competing theories of the glass transition

Abstract

It has been demonstrated recently that supercooled liquids sharing simple structural features (e.g. pair distribution functions) may exhibit strikingly distinct dynamical behavior. Here we show that a more subtle structural feature correlates with relaxation times in three simulated systems that have nearly identical radial distribution functions but starkly different dynamical behavior. In particular, for the first time we determine the thermodynamic "point-to-set" length scale in several canonical model systems and demonstrate the quantitative connection between this length scale and the growth of relaxation times. Our results provide clues necessary for distinguishing competing theories of the glass transition.