Crossover (or Kovacs) Effect in an Aging Molecular Liquid
Abstract
We study by means of molecular dynamics simulations the aging behavior of a molecular model of ortho-terphenyl. We find evidence of a nonmonotonic evolution of the volume during an isothermal-isobaric equilibration process, a phenomenon known in polymeric systems as the crossover (or Kovacs) effect. We characterize this phenomenology in terms of landscape properties, providing evidence that, far from equilibrium, the system explores regions of the potential energy landscape distinct from the one explored in thermal equilibrium.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- January 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.045504
- arXiv:
- arXiv:cond-mat/0305526
- Bibcode:
- 2004PhRvL..92d5504M
- Keywords:
-
- 61.20.-p;
- 61.25.Em;
- Structure of liquids;
- Molecular liquids;
- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter;
- Condensed Matter - Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
- E-Print:
- RevTeX 4, 4 pages, 5 eps figures