Elasticity, Facilitation and Dynamic Heterogeneity in Glass-Forming liquids

TL;DR

This paper investigates how elasticity-induced facilitation influences the dynamics of glass-forming liquids, using a coarse-grained model to explain dynamic heterogeneity and correlations at the glass transition.

Contribution

It introduces a two-dimensional model that combines thermal activation with elastic interactions, providing a new mechanism for dynamic heterogeneity in glass-formers.

Findings

Model reproduces key features of dynamic heterogeneity.

Elastic facilitation explains emergence of dynamical correlations.

Analytical theory supports simulation results.

Abstract

We study the role of elasticity-induced facilitation on the dynamics of glass-forming liquids by a coarse-grained two-dimensional model in which local relaxation events, taking place by thermal activation, can trigger new relaxations by long-range elastically-mediated interactions. By simulations and an analytical theory, we show that the model reproduces the main salient facts associated with dynamic heterogeneity and offers a mechanism to explain the emergence of dynamical correlations at the glass transition. We also discuss how it can be generalized and combined with current theories.