title: Central role of thermal collective strain in the relaxation of structure in a supercooled liquid.
abstract: The spatial distribution of structural relaxation in a supercooled liquid is studied using molecular dynamics simulations of a two-dimensional binary mixture. It is shown that the spatial heterogeneity of the relaxation along with the time scale of the relaxation is determined, not by the frequency with which particles move a distance pi/2kBragg, but by the frequency with which particles can achieve persistent displacements. We show that these persistent displacements are achieved through the coupled action of local reorganizations and unrecoverable thermal strains.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Asaph
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Widmer-Cooper
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Harrowell
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D005615:Freezing; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D012996:Solutions / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions