Properties of cage rearrangements observed near the colloidal glass transition.

摘要: We use confocal microscopy to study particle motion in colloidal systems. Near the glass transition, is inhibited, as particles spend time trapped transient "cages" formed by neighboring particles. measure cage sizes and lifetimes, which, respectively, shrink grow transition approaches. Cage rearrangements are more prevalent regions with lower concentrations higher disorder. Neighboring rearranging typically move parallel directions, although a nontrivial fraction moves antiparallel usually from pairs initial separations corresponding local maxima minima of pair correlation function g(r), respectively.