Elastoplasticity Mediates Dynamical Heterogeneity Below the Mode Coupling Temperature

RN Chacko and FP Landes and G Biroli and O Dauchot and AJ Liu and DR Reichman, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 127, 048002 (2021).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.048002

As liquids approach the glass transition temperature, dynamical heterogeneity emerges as a crucial universal feature of their behavior. Dynamic facilitation, where local motion triggers further motion nearby, plays a major role in this phenomenon. Here we show that long-ranged, elastically mediated facilitation appears below the mode coupling temperature, adding to the short-range component present at all temperatures. Our results suggest deep connections between the supercooled liquid and glass states, and pave the way for a deeper understanding of dynamical heterogeneity in glassy systems.

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