Microscopic kinetics and time-dependent structure factors

The time evolution of structure factors (SF) in the disordering process of an initially phase-separated lattice depends crucially on the microscopic disordering mechanism, such as Kawasaki dynamics (KD) or vacancy-mediated disordering (VMD). Monte Carlo simulations show unexpected "dips" in the SFs. A phenomenological model is introduced to explain the dips in the odd SFs, and an analytical solution of KD is derived, in excellent agreement with simulations. The presence (absence) of dips in the even SFs for VMD (KD) marks a significant but not yet understood difference of the two dynamics.