Title:	Nonaffine heterogeneities and droplet fluctuations in an equilibrium crystalline solid
Authors:	Das, Tamoghna Sengupta, Surajit Rao, Madan
Issue Date:	19-Oct-2010
Publisher:	American Physical Society
Citation:	Physical Review E, 2010, Vol.82, p041115
Abstract:	We show, using molecular-dynamics simulations, that a two-dimensional Lennard-Jones solid exhibits droplet fluctuations characterized by nonaffine deviations from local crystallinity. The fraction of particles in these droplets increases as the mean density of the solid decreases and approaches ≈20% of the total number in the vicinity of the fluid-solid phase boundary. We monitor the geometry, local equation of state, density correlations, and Van Hove functions of these droplets. We provide evidence that these nonaffine heterogeneities should be interpreted as being droplet fluctuations from nearby metastable minima. The local excess pressure of the droplets plotted against the local number density shows a van der Waal loop with distinct branches corresponding to fluidlike compact and stringlike glassy droplets. The distinction between fluidlike and glassy droplets disappears above a well-defined temperature.
Description:	Open Access
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/2289/4035
ISSN:	1539-3755 1550-2376 (Online)
Alternative Location:	http://arxiv.org/abs/1007.0271 http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.82.041115
Copyright:	2010 American Physical Society
Appears in Collections:	Research Papers (TP)

Items in RRI Digital Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.