Frequency Dependent Specific Heat of Amorphous Silica: A Molecular Dynamics Computer Simulation

We use molecular dynamics computer simulations to calculate the frequency dependence of the specific heat of a SiO_2 melt. The ions interact with the BKS potential and the simulations are done in the NVE ensemble. We find that the frequency dependence of the specific heat shows qualitatively the same behavior as the one of structural quantities, in that at high frequencies a microscopic peak is observed and at low frequencies an alpha-peak, the location of which quickly moves to lower frequencies when the temperature is decreased.