A semi-schematic model for the center of mass dynamics in supercooled molecular liquids

Abstract

We introduce a semi-schematic mode-coupling model to describe the slow dynamics in molecular liquids, retaining explicitly only the description of the center of mass degrees of freedom. Angular degrees of freedom are condensed in a q-vector independent coupling parameter. We compare the time and q-dependence of the density fluctuation correlators with numerical data from a 250 ns long molecular dynamics simulation. Notwithstanding the choice of a network-forming liquid as a model for comparing theory and simulation, the model describes the main static and dynamic features of the relaxation in a broad q-vector range.