Nonexponential relaxation in a simple liquid metal.

A hallmark of the changes in dynamics towards the glass transition is the stretched exponential structural relaxation. Quasielastic neutron scattering results on liquid rubidium demonstrate such a nonexponential relaxation process in a simple liquid metal above the melting point. The nonexponential decay is an indication of non-Markovian dynamics and points to the collective character of the relaxation process. Describing the relaxation dynamics by a two-step process, the long lasting part of the decay process is in remarkable quantitative agreement with predictions from mode coupling theory. The feedback mechanism of the slowing down process in the theoretical description suggests that this contribution is at the origin of the structural arrest. With rising temperature the intermediate scattering function transforms into a simple exponential decay at a temperature range which indicates the end of the highly viscous solidlike behavior in the liquid.