Deformation of inherent structures to detect long-range correlations in supercooled liquids

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method using deformations of inherent structures to identify structural changes and long-range correlations associated with the onset of cooperativity in supercooled liquids, revealing temperature-sensitive behavior.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach employing non-affine displacement fields to detect structural and dynamic transitions in supercooled liquids, linking deformation responses to inherent structure energies.

Findings

NAD magnitude is highly sensitive to temperature in supercooled regime

Correlation length of NAD increases as temperature decreases

NAD field differences mirror dynamic behavior in supercooled liquids

Abstract

We propose deformations of inherent structures as a suitable tool for detecting structural changes underlying the onset of cooperativity in supercooled liquids. The non-affine displacement (NAD) field resulting from the applied deformation shows characteristic differences between the high temperature liquid and supercooled state, that are typically observed in dynamic quantities. The average magnitude of the NAD is very sensitive to temperature changes in the supercooled regime and is found to be strongly correlated with the inherent structure energy. In addition, the NAD field is characterized by a correlation length that increases upon lowering the temperature towards the supercooled regime.