Spatially heterogeneous dynamics in liquids: insights from simulation

In this paper, review of recent theoretical and simulation work on dynamical heterogeneity and correlated particle motion in glass-forming liquids and polymers is presented. Evidence for increasing mobility fluctuations in these systems with decreasing temperature, and the relationship between dynamical heterogeneity and decoupling of diffusion and structural relaxation is described. The relationship between dynamical heterogeneity, string-like collective motion, the clustering of strings, and mode-coupling theory is briefly discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.