Synergistic Self-Driven Nanoconfinement and Dynamical Heterogeneity in Deeply Supercooled "No Man's Land" Water
Abstract
The 150--235 K ``no man's land'' (NML) of deeply supercooled water is a highly debated regime where rapid crystallization hinders experimental observation of the hypothesized liquid-liquid phase transition. Using TIP4P/2005 molecular dynamics simulations, we uncover a structurally and dynamically heterogeneous state at ambient pressure that exhibits novel physical features. Our results demonstrate that this low-density state (ρ≈ 0.925 g/cm3) is a unique supercooled liquid, distinct from both glassy and spinodal states. Specifically, it emerges as a stable, structurally arrested phase driven by a self-generated ``soft skeleton'' of nanoclusters. This network forms an intrinsic nanoporous structure that imposes nanoconfinement on the remaining fluid, proving that NML confinement can be an entirely self-driven phenomenon. Finally, we resolve the temperature-dependent, nonlinear behavior of density and compressibility, highlighting a structurally driven anomaly that clarifies the thermodynamics of deep supercooling. Collectively, this work provides a transformative structural framework for understanding the anomalous nature of water within the NML.
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BibTeX
@misc{sule2026synergistic,
title = {{Synergistic Self-Driven Nanoconfinement and Dynamical Heterogeneity in Deeply Supercooled "No Man's Land" Water}},
author = {Péter Süle},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.22402},
eprint = {2610.22402},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22402},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Synergistic Self-Driven Nanoconfinement and Dynamical Heterogeneity in Deeply Supercooled "No Man's Land" Water
AU - Péter Süle
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.22402
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22402
AB - The 150--235 K ``no man's land'' (NML) of deeply supercooled water is a highly debated regime where rapid crystallization hinders experimental observation of the hypothesized liquid-liquid phase transition. Using TIP4P/2005 molecular dynamics simulations, we uncover a structurally and dynamically heterogeneous state at ambient pressure that exhibits novel physical features. Our results demonstrate that this low-density state (ρ≈ 0.925 g/cm^3) is a unique supercooled liquid, distinct from both glassy and spinodal states. Specifically, it emerges as a stable, structurally arrested phase driven by a self-generated ``soft skeleton'' of nanoclusters. This network forms an intrinsic nanoporous structure that imposes nanoconfinement on the remaining fluid, proving that NML confinement can be an entirely self-driven phenomenon. Finally, we resolve the temperature-dependent, nonlinear behavior of density and compressibility, highlighting a structurally driven anomaly that clarifies the thermodynamics of deep supercooling. Collectively, this work provides a transformative structural framework for understanding the anomalous nature of water within the NML.
ER -