Non-Equilibrium Phase Transition in an Atomistic Glassformer: the Connection to Thermodynamics

TL;DR

This paper investigates a nonequilibrium phase transition in atomistic glassformers using trajectory sampling, suggesting a connection to thermodynamics and potential access to equilibrium states near the Kauzmann temperature.

Contribution

It introduces a trajectory sampling approach to study a nonequilibrium phase transition in glassformers, linking dynamical behavior to thermodynamic phase transitions.

Findings

Identification of a nonequilibrium phase transition in trajectory space

Transition may become accessible in equilibrium near the Kauzmann temperature

Provides a potential link between dynamical and thermodynamical theories of the glass transition

Abstract

Tackling the low-temperature fate of supercooled liquids is challenging due to the immense timescales involved, which prevent equilibration and lead to the operational glass transition. Relating glassy behaviour to an underlying, thermodynamic phase transition is a long-standing open question in condensed matter physics. Like experiments, computer simulations are limited by the small time window over which a liquid can be equilibrated. Here we address the challenge of low temperature equilibration using trajectory sampling in a system undergoing a nonequilibrium phase transition. This transition occurs in trajectory space between the normal supercooled liquid and a glassy state rich in low-energy geometric motifs. Our results indicate that this transition might become accessible in equilibrium configurational space at a temperature close to the so-called Kauzmann temperature, and provide a possible route to unify dynamical and thermodynamical theories of the glass transition.