Glassy behaviour of sticky spheres: What lies beyond experimental timescales?

Abstract

We use the swap Monte Carlo algorithm to analyse the glassy behaviour of sticky spheres in equilibrium conditions at densities where conventional simulations and experiments fail to reach equilibrium, beyond predicted phase transitions and dynamic singularities. We demonstrate the existence of a unique ergodic region comprising all the distinct phases previously reported, except for a phase-separated region at strong adhesion. All structural and dynamic observables evolve gradually within this ergodic region, the physics evolving smoothly from well-known hard sphere glassy behaviour at small adhesions and large densities, to a more complex glassy regime characterised by unusually-broad distributions of relaxation timescales and lengthscales at large adhesions.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures

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• Brownian dynamics simulations of hard rods in external fields and with contact interactions
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• Microscopic Theory of the Elastic Shear Modulus and Length-Scale-Dependent Dynamic Re-Entrancy Phenomena in Very Dense Sticky Particle Fluids
• Characterising the slow dynamics of the swap Monte Carlo algorithm
• Glass Transition in Monolayers of Rough Colloidal Ellipsoids
• Does mesoscopic elasticity control viscous slowing down in glassforming liquids?