Eur. Phys. J. E (2003) 12: 5-9
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2003-10041-7

The relaxation dynamics of a confined glassy simple liquid

¹ Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099, Mainz, Germany
² Laboratoire des Verres, Université Montpellier II, 34095, Montpellier, France

^* e-mail: kob@ldv.univ-montp2.fr

Abstract

We use molecular-dynamics computer simulations to study the relaxation dynamics of a confined simple liquid. Two types of confining walls are considered: A rough wall and a smooth wall. The simulation is set up in such a way that the static properties of the confined system are identical to the ones of the bulk. Nevertheless, we find that upon cooling the relaxation dynamics of the confined systems differ strongly from the one of the bulk. In particular, we find that close to the rough/smooth wall this dynamics is slowed down/accelerated by orders of magnitude. Using these results we are able to extract a dynamical length scale of the system and we show that this length shows an Arrhenius dependence.