Slow dynamics and correlation functions

The slow dynamics of a system as it approaches a phase transition, associated with the slowing down in the decay of a correlation function, can be caused by a sharp increase in the probability of a particle’s returning to its original state following a transition, rather than to a slowing down in the transition rates as is usually assumed. The results of our calculations show that this is the case for the ferromagnetic Potts model. The implications of this result for various theories of the glass transition are discussed.