Rigidity percolation and the spatial heterogeneity of soft modes in disordered materials

Abstract

We show how the spatial character of unconstrained motion in a network of bonds can be directly inferred from the topological arrangement of constraints. Relaxation time scales of these soft modes are determined, and from this information we generate spatial maps of the heterogeneous distribution of relaxation times in the disordered network. We show that the nature of the dynamic heterogeneity and its sensitivity to changes in bond configuration depends dramatically on the proximity of the system to the rigidity percolation point.