HOPPING PROCESSES FROM DYNAMICAL DENSITY-FUNCTIONAL THEORY FOR A DEEPLY SUPERCOOLED HARD-SPHERE LIQUID

Through the mapping onto the kinetic lattice gas model the dynamical d ensity functional equation is solved by the Monte Carlo method in a de eply supercooled hard-sphere liquid, while focusing on how the system explores the free-energy landscape during a relaxation process. A vari ety of metastable states appear as the supercooling proceeds beyond th e equilibrium crystallization point. Our approach is the first to repr oduce the hopping transitions among these states as a solution of a me soscopic kinetic equation.