Vibrational Modes Identify Soft Spots in a Sheared Disordered Packing
Vibrational Modes Identify Soft Spots in a Sheared Disordered Packing
We analyze low-frequency vibrational modes in a two-dimensional, zero-temperature, quasistatically sheared model glass to identify a population of structural "soft spots" where particle rearrangements are initiated. The population of spots evolves slowly compared to the interval between particle rearrangements, and the soft spots are structurally different from the rest of …