A facilitation-induced fluidization transition in supercooled water triggered by a few active molecules

Using an activation mechanism reproducing facilitation, a dynamic phase transition triggered by a few active molecules was recently found in a supercooled model liquid. Prompted by this finding, we investigate the presence of a similar transition in supercooled water. We find the presence of the phase transition in water despite the numerous anomalies of water, suggesting the universality of the transition. The transition appears at constant temperature, being only induced by the motion of a small percentage of active molecules and the system's cooperativity. We observe that cooperative motions strongly increase at the transition and do not disappear when the medium's viscosity drops. An increase in temperature is needed to make the cooperative motions disappear, suggesting a connection to the kinetic energy to potential energy ratio instead of the medium's viscosity.