On the ergodicity of supercooled molecular glass-forming liquids at the dynamical arrest: the o-terphenyl case

The dynamics of supercooled ortho-terphenyl has been studied using photon-correlation spectroscopy (PCS) in the depolarized scattering geometry. The obtained relaxation curves are analyzed according to the mode-coupling theory (MCT) for supercooled liquids. The main results are: i) the observation of the secondary Johari-Goldstein relaxation (β) that has its onset just at the dynamical crossover temperature TB (TM > TB > Tg); ii) the confirmation, of the suggestion of a recent statistical mechanical study, that such a molecular system remains ergodic also below the calorimetric glass-transition temperature Tg. Our experimental data give evidence that the time scales of the primary (α) and this secondary relaxations are correlated. Finally a comparison with recent PCS experiments in a colloidal system confirms the primary role of the dynamical crossover in the physics of the dynamical arrest.