Negative fluctuation-dissipation ratios in the backgammon model

Abstract

We analyze fluctuation-dissipation relations in the Backgammon model: a system that displays glassy behavior at zero temperature due to the existence of entropy barriers. We study local and global fluctuation relations for the different observables in the model. For the case of a global perturbation we find a unique negative fluctuation-dissipation ratio that is independent of the observable and which diverges linearly with the waiting time. This result suggests that a negative effective temperature can be observed in glassy systems even in the absence of thermally activated processes.