Structural relaxation in quantum supercooled liquids: A mode-coupling approach

We study supercooled dynamics in a quantum hard-sphere liquid using quantum mode-coupling formulation. In the moderate quantum regime, classical cage effects lead to slower dynamics compared to the strongly quantum regime, where tunneling overcomes classical caging, leading to faster relaxation. As a result, the glass transition critical density can become significantly higher than for the classical liquids. A perturbative approach is used to solve time dependent quantum mode-coupling equations to study in detail the dynamics of the supercooled liquid in the moderate quantum regime. Similar to the classical case, the relaxation time shows the power-law increase with the increase in the density in the supercooled regime. However, the power-law exponent is found to be dependent on the quantumness; it increases linearly as the quantumness is increased in the moderate quantum regime.

Automated summary

In the moderate quantum regime, classical cage effects slow down dynamics, while tunneling leads to faster relaxation in the strong quantum regime. The glass transition critical density can be significantly higher in quantum liquids. A perturbative approach is used to study the dynamics in detail, showing an increase in relaxation time with density following a power-law relationship that is dependent on the level of quantumness.