Inherent structures and nonequilibrium dynamics of one-dimensional constrained kinetic models: A comparison study

We discuss the relevance of the Stillinger and Weber approach to the glass transition investigating the nonequilibrium behavior of models with nontrivial dynamics, but with simple equilibrium properties. We consider a family of 1D constrained kinetic models, which interpolates between the asymmetric chain introduced by Jackle and Eisinger [Z. Phys. B 84, 115 (1991)] and the symmetric chain introduced by Fredrickson and Andersen [Phys. Rev. Lett 53, 1244 (1984)], and the 1D version of the Backgammon model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 1190 (1995)]. We show that the configurational entropy obtained from the inherent structures is the same for all models irrespective of their different microscopic dynamics. We present a detailed study of the coarsening behavior of these models, including the relation between fluctuations and response. Our results suggest that any approach to the glass transition inspired by mean-field ideas and resting on the definition of a configurational entropy must rely on the absence of any growing characteristic coarsening pattern. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)51347-6].