RELAXATION PROCESSES AND ENTROPIC TRAPS IN THE BACKGAMMON MODEL

We examine the density-density correlation function in a model recentl y proposed to study the effect of entropy barriers in glassy dynamics. We find that the relaxation proceeds in two steps with a fast beta pr ocess followed by alpha relaxation. The results are physically interpr eted in the context of an adiabatic approximation which allows one to separate the two processes and define an effective temperature in the off-equilibrium dynamics of the model. We investigate the behaviour of the response function associated with the density and find violations of the fluctuation dissipation theorem.