Inspection paradox and jump detection in glassy systems.

Abstract

Dynamics in glassy systems near the phase transition is characterized by particle jumps. Approaches to describing this dynamics are based on models in which the time and length scales defining the jumps are parameters to be determined. We instead propose a model-independent method to detect these jumps. Our method uses the theory of the inspection paradox to analyze particle trajectories and reveals the time and length scales defining a jump without free parameters. Given its simplicity and generality, our method can be applied to resolve hopping motion in a broad class of systems, including experimental ones.