Solvation in Space-time: Pretransition Effects in Trajectory Space

Shachi Katira, Juan P. Garrahan, and Kranthi K. Mandadapu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 260602 – Published 29 June 2018

Abstract

We demonstrate pretransition effects in space-time in trajectories of systems in which the dynamics displays a first-order phase transition between distinct dynamical phases. These effects are analogous to those observed for thermodynamic first-order phase transitions, most notably the hydrophobic effect in water. Considering the (infinite temperature) East model as an elementary example, we study the properties of “space-time solvation” by examining trajectories where finite space-time regions are conditioned to be inactive in an otherwise active phase. We find that solvating an inactive region of space-time within an active trajectory shows two regimes in the dynamical equivalent of solvation free energy: an “entropic” small solute regime in which uncorrelated fluctuations are sufficient to evacuate activity from the solute, and an “energetic” large solute regime which involves the formation of a solute-induced inactive domain with an associated active-inactive interface bearing a dynamical interfacial tension. We also show that as a result of this dynamical interfacial tension there is a dynamical analog of the hydrophobic collapse that drives the assembly of large hydrophobes in water. We discuss the general relevance of these results to the properties of dynamical fluctuations in systems with slow collective relaxation such as glass formers.

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  • Received 2 November 2017
  • Revised 1 March 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.260602

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Shachi Katira1,*, Juan P. Garrahan2,3,†, and Kranthi K. Mandadapu1,4,‡

  • 1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
  • 3Centre for the Mathematics and Theoretical Physics of Quantum Non-Equilibrium Systems, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
  • 4Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

  • *shachi@berkeley.edu
  • juan.garrahan@nottingham.ac.uk
  • kranthi@berkeley.edu

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Vol. 120, Iss. 26 — 29 June 2018

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