Molecular dynamics investigation of a density-driven glass transition in a liquid crystal system.
Molecular dynamics simulations are carried out to address the density-driven glass transition in a system of rodlike particles that interact with the Gay-Berne potential. Since crystallization occurs in this system on the time scale of the simulations, direct simulation of the glass transition is not possible. Instead, glasses with isotropic orientational order are heated to a temperature T, and the relaxation times by which nematic orientational order develops are determined. These relaxation times appear to diverge at a critical density rho(c); i.e., the system can equilibrate at rho<rho(c), but it cannot equilibrate at rho>rho(c) (at the temperature T). The relaxation times follow a power-law scaling as the critical density is approached, suggesting that this density-driven glass transition concurs with mode coupling theory.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA.
Pablo A
PA
Vieira
Daniel J
DJ
Lacks
D003198:Computer Simulation; D003460:Crystallization; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D044367:Phase Transition; D013696:Temperature