The spatial distribution of relaxation times in a model glass

Abstract

One approach to exploring the mechanisms which give rise to the characteristic distribution of relaxation times in a glass is to examine the correlation between this distribution and the spatial distribution of the relaxation rates. Detailed maps are presented of the spatial distribution of relaxation times in the facilitated kinetic Ising model of the structural glass transition. A statistical analysis of these spatial distributions leads to a set of correlation lengths associated with different aspects of the cooperative dynamics. One such length scale, ξ2, is found to be closely associated with the average relaxation time τL, the two quantities being related by a power law over 6 orders of magnitude variation in τL.