Glassy dynamics in monodisperse hard ellipsoids

Abstract

We present evidence from computer simulations for glassy dynamics in suspensions of monodisperse hard ellipsoids. In equilibrium, almost spherical ellipsoids show a first order transition from an isotropic phase to a rotator phase. When overcompressing the isotropic phase into the rotator regime, we observe super-Arrhenius slowing down of diffusion and relaxation, accompanied by two-step relaxation in positional and orientational correlators. The effects are strong enough for asymptotic laws of mode-coupling theory to apply. Glassy dynamics are unusual in monodisperse systems. Typically, polydispersity in size or a mixture of particle species is prerequisite to prevent crystallization. Here, we show that a slight particle anisometry acts as a sufficient source of disorder. This sheds new light on the question of which ingredients are required for glass formation.

included data of prolate system in all figures and text, extended discussion of indicators of glassy dynamics, fixed symbol ambiguities, preprint format

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• Further details on the phase diagram of hard ellipsoids of revolution
• Solid-solid phase transition in hard ellipsoids
• Effective Perrin theory for the anisotropic diffusion of a strongly hindered rod
• Collective Diffusion of Colloidal Hard Rods in Smectic Liquid Crystals: Effect of Particle Anisotropy
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• Relaxation dynamics in a binary hard-ellipse liquid
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• Self-induced glassiness and pattern formation in spin systems subject to long-range interactions
• Orientational glass in mixtures of elliptic and circular particles: Structural heterogeneities, rotational dynamics, and rheology
• Temporal and structural characteristics of a two dimensional gas of hard needles
• Crystallization in Glassy Suspensions of Hard Ellipsoids
• Observation of Liquid Glass in Molecular Dynamics Simulations
• Coarse-graining strategy for modeling effective, highly diffusive fluids with reduced polydispersity: A dynamical study
• Relating thermodynamic quantities of convex-hard-body fluids to the body's shape