Eur. Phys. J. B 32, 495-502 (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2003-00117-4

A new method to compute the configurational entropy in glassy systems

¹ Service de Physique Théorique, CEA - Saclay Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
² Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Istituto Nazionale Fisica della Materia Unità di Roma I and SMC, P.le Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy
³ Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma 1, P.le Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy
⁴ Physics Department, Faculty of Physics University of Barcelona, Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Corresponding author: ^a andrea.crisanti@phys.uniromal.it

Received: 14 February 2002
Revised: 17 December 2002
Published online: 24 April 2003

Abstract

We propose a new method to compute the configurational entropy of glassy systems as a function of the free energy of valleys at a given temperature, in the framework of the Stillinger and Weber approach. In this method, which we call free-energy inherent structures (FEIS) approach, valleys are represented by inherent structures that are statistically grouped according to their free-energy rather than the energy as is commonly done in the standard procedure. The FEIS method provides a further step toward a description of the relaxational behavior of glassy systems in terms of a free energy measure. It can be used to determine the character of the glass transition as well as the mode coupling and the Kauzmann temperatures. We illustrate the usefulness of the method by applying it to simple models of glasses and spin glasses.