Energy landscape of a simple model for strong liquids

A. J. Moreno, S. V. Buldyrev, E. La Nave, I. Saika-Voivod, F. Sciortino, P. Tartaglia, E. Zaccarelli

Published 2004-07-30, updated 2005-10-04Version 2

We calculate the statistical properties of the energy landscape of a minimal model for strong network-forming liquids. Dynamics and thermodynamic properties of this model can be computed with arbitrary precision even at low temperatures. A degenerate disordered ground state and logarithmic statistics for the energy distribution are the landscape signatures of strong liquid behavior. Differences from fragile liquid properties are attributed to the presence of a discrete energy scale, provided by the particle bonds, and to the intrinsic degeneracy of topologically disordered networks.