Related papers: Transitions between metastable states in silica cl…
Quantum tunneling often allows pathways to relaxation past energy barriers which are otherwise hard to overcome classically at low temperatures. However, this is not always the case. In this paper we provide simple exactly solvable examples…
We consider a system of spherical particles interacting by means of a pair potential equal to a finite constant for interparticle distances smaller than the sphere diameter and zero outside. The model may be a prototype for the interaction…
This article is divided into two parts. In the first part, we study the hierarchical phenomenon of metastability in low-temperature lattice models in the most general setting. Given an abstract dynamical system governed by a Hamiltonian…
An equilibrated model glass-forming liquid is studied by mapping successive configurations produced by molecular dynamics simulation onto a time series of inherent structures (local minima in the potential energy). Using this ``inherent…
Tunneling is a fascinating aspect of quantum mechanics that renders the local minima of a potential meta-stable, with important consequences for particle physics, for the early hot stage of the universe, and more speculatively, for the…
A system of neutral atoms trapped in an optical lattice and dispersively coupled to the field of an optical cavity can realize a variation of the Bose-Hubbard model with infinite-range interactions. This model exhibits a first order quantum…
We develop a framework for understanding the difference between strong and fragile behavior in the dynamics of glass-forming liquids from the properties of the potential energy landscape. Our approach is based on a master equation…
This paper is devoted to the study of quantum dissipation in cluster decay phenomena in the frame of the Lindblad approach to quantum open systems. The tunneling of a metastable state across a piecewise quadratic potential is envisaged for…
We study the kinetics of crystallization in deeply supercooled liquid silicon employing computer simulations and the Stillinger-Weber three body potential. The free energy barriers to crystallisation are computed using umbrella sampling…
Amorphous solids exhibit quasi-universal low-temperature anomalies whose origin has been ascribed to localized tunneling defects. Using an advanced Monte Carlo procedure, we create {\it in silico} glasses spanning from hyperquenched to…
In recent experiments on sodium chloride clusters structural transitions between nanocrystals with different cuboidal shapes were detected. Here we presents results for the thermodynamics and dynamics of one of these clusters, (NaCl)35Cl-.…
Using molecular dynamics simulation, we investigate the slow dynamics of a supercooled binary mixture of soft particles interacting with a generalized Hertzian potential. At low density, it displays typical slow dynamics near its glass…
An analytically tractable model is introduced which exhibits both, a glass--like freezing transition, and a collection of double--well configurations in its zero--temperature potential energy landscape. The latter are generally believed to…
Aspects of the dynamical glass transition are considered within a mean field spin glass model. At the dynamical transition the the system condenses in a state of lower entropy. The difference, the information entropy or complexity, is…
Information about the nature of the low-temperature anomalies and in particular the properties of the tunneling systems in silica and lithium silica glasses are revealed via computer simulations. The potential energy landscape of these…
The equilibrium configuration of an engineering structure, able to withstand a certain loading condition, is usually associated with a local minimum of the underlying potential energy. However, in the nonlinear context, there may be other…
Glass-forming liquids have only a modest tendency to crystallize and hence their dynamics can be studied even below the melting temperature. The relaxation dynamics of most of these liquids shows at a temperature $T_c$, somewhat above the…
In recent experiments on sodium chloride clusters structural transitions between nanocrystals with different cuboidal shapes were detected. Here we determine reaction pathways between the low energy isomers of one of these clusters,…
We study the equilibrium statistical properties of the potential energy landscape of several glass models in a temperature regime so far inaccessible to computer simulations. We show that unstable modes of the stationary points undergo a…
Tackling the low-temperature fate of supercooled liquids is challenging due to the immense timescales involved, which prevent equilibration and lead to the operational glass transition. Relating glassy behaviour to an underlying,…