2008/02/29 by P. Pfleiderer, Patrick Pfleiderer, K. Milinkovic +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.dis-nn #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/84/16003
published as Europhys. Letters 84, 16003 (2008) · included data of prolate system in all figures and text, extended discussion of indicators of glassy dynamics, fixed symbol ambiguities, preprint format
arxiv created 2008/05/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
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.