Relaxation scenarios in a mixture of large and small spheres: dependence on the size disparity

We present a computational investigation on the slow dynamics of a mixture of large and small soft spheres. By varying the size disparity at a moderate fixed composition different relaxation scenarios are observed for the small particles. For small disparity density-density correlators exhibit moderate stretching. Only small quantitative differences are observed between dynamic features for large and small particles. On the contrary, large disparity induces a clear time scale separation between the large and small particles. Density-density correlators for the small particles become extremely stretched and display logarithmic relaxation by properly tuning the temperature or the wave vector. Self-correlators decay much faster than density-density correlators. For very large size disparity, a complete separation between self- and collective dynamics is observed for the small particles. Self-correlators decay to zero at temperatures where density-density correlations are frozen. The dynamic picture obtained by varying the size disparity resembles features associated with mode coupling transition lines of the types B and A at, respectively, small and very large size disparities. Both lines might merge, at some intermediate disparity, at a higher-order point, to which logarithmic relaxation would be associated. This picture resembles predictions of a recent mode coupling theory for fluids confined in matrices with interconnected voids V. Krakoviack, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 065703 (2005)].