The effects of spatial heterogeneities on the slow dynamics of density fluctuations are discussed both in an equilibrium colloidal suspension and in a slightly nonequilibrium colloidal suspension. The long-lived, heterogeneous glassy domains appear near the glass transition and influence the...

Slow dynamics of equilibrium hard-sphere colloidal suspensions near the glass transition is discussed from a new viewpoint by numerically solving a cubic nonlinear stochastic diffusion equation for the density fluctuation recently proposed by one of the present authors (MT). The important role...