Icosahedral Bond Orientational Order in Supercooled Liquids

Three-dimensional bond orientational order is studied via computer simulations of 864 particles interacting through a Lennard-Jones pair potential. Long-range orientational fluctuations appear upon supercooling about ten percent below the equilibrium melting temperature. The fluctuations suggest a broken icosahedral symmetry with extended correlations in the orientations of local icosahedral packing units. © 1981 The American Physical Society.