Simulation of Other Amorphous Systems

But the most severe hindrance for a simulation is the fact that mineral glasses form a three-dimensional network whereas ordinary synthetic polymers are one-dimensional chains. In a three-dimensional network both the size of a representative segment and the number of relevant geometries will be tremendously larger than in a chain molecule. The necessary computer time will be accordingly large. 

Moreover, two aspects of a more technical kind must be regarded. Mineral glasses contain relatively heavy elements that are difficult to tackle by ordinary force fields and by standard quantum chemistry methods. This may enforce the use of time-consuming advanced methods. 

Another problem is posed by the shape of the experimental resonances. They are normally almost perfectly Gaussian and bear very little structure to discriminate competing geometrical models. 

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