Dynamics in Glassy and Disordered Systems

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Dynamics in Glassy and Disordered Systems - The intent of this project is to continue previous studies of dynamics in glassy and disordered systems, focusing on three areas. The numerical enzyme technique (previously developed by the PI) will be used to accelerate the dynamics of a two-component Lennard-Jones model, to test and refine the PI's scaling theory of the glass transition. The charge-density-wave depinning transition will also be studied, in particular examining the sparse regime and phase-organization in the avalanches which occur on the pinned side of the transition. Finally, the study of logarithmic coarsening in Ising models without disorder will be shifted from three-dimensional to two- dimensional, and the scaling and critical properties will be extracted from the simulation. A major theme in the proposed research is development of the PI's ideas concerning Darwinian selection of numerical enzymes to accelerate Monte Carlo simulation. %%% One of the principal areas of current research in statistical physics is the nature and formation of glassy states. Despite the lack of detailed understanding concerning the glassy state (even the identification of glass as a well-defined thermodynamic state is unclear), glass is the standard paradigm for random systems in general. Beyond the obvious benefit to be generated by obtaining a better understanding of glass (one of our societies most important structural materials), the possibility of refining the analogy between glass and other, closely-related systems as is a relevant goal. The techniques which are being developed for this study (numerical enzymes) are quite new, and further investigation of their properties, potential, and limitations is an additional part of the project. The impact of this new class of simulation techniques on materials science is potentially very great.