TRAVELING THROUGH POTENTIAL-ENERGY LANDSCAPES OF DISORDERED MATERIALS- THE ACTIVATION-RELAXATION TECHNIQUE

A detailed description of the activation-relaxation technique (ART) is presented. This method defines events in the configurational energy l andscape of disordered materials such as amorphous semiconductors, gla sses and polymers, in a two-step process: first, a configuration is ac tivated from a local minimum to a nearby saddle point; next, the confi guration is relaxed to a new minimum; this allows for jumps over energ y barriers much higher than what can be reached with standard techniqu es. Such events can serve as basic steps in equilibrium and kinetic Mo nte Carlo schemes.