Fractional Coupling of Primary and Johari-Goldstein Relaxations in a Model Polymer

A polymer model exhibiting heterogeneous Johari-Goldstein (JG) secondary relaxation is studied by extensive molecular-dynamics simulations of states with different temperature and pressure. Time-temperature-pressure superposition of the primary (segmental) relaxation is evidenced. The time scales of the primary and the JG relaxations are found to be highly correlated according to a power law. The finding agrees with key predictions of the Coupling Model (CM) accounting for the decay in a correlation function due to the relaxation and diffusion of interacting systems. Nonetheless, the exponent of the power law, even if it is found in the range predicted by CM (0 < 1), deviates from the expected one. It is suggested that the deviation could depend on the particular relaxation process involved in the correlation function and the heterogeneity of the JG process.