Landscapes, dynamic heterogeneity and kinetic facilitation in a simple off-lattice model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple off-lattice hard-disc model that captures glassy dynamics, allowing exact analysis of inherent structures, transitions, and facilitation mechanisms, and mapping to a facilitation framework.

Contribution

The study provides an exactly solvable off-lattice model that elucidates the microscopic mechanisms of glassy dynamics and facilitation.

Findings

Exact enumeration of inherent structures

Clear understanding of metabasin transitions

Identification of facilitation configurations

Abstract

We present a simple off-lattice hard-disc model that exhibits glassy dynamics. The inherent structures are enumerated exactly, transitions between metabasins are well understood, and the particle configurations that act to facilitate dynamics are easily identified. The model readily maps to a coarse grained dynamic facilitation description.