Heterogeneity at the glass transition

Abstract

We critically discuss the information that can be obtained from experiments with respect to the existence, the life time, and the length scale of dynamical heterogeneity in glass-forming liquids. The ability to select a dynamically distinguishable subensemble and observe its return to the full equilibrium ensemble is illustrated by examples from multi-dimensional NMR. We also discuss non-resonant hole burning spectroscopy as an example for which two separate time scales are involved.