Aging as dynamics in configuration space

Using molecular dynamics computer simulation we calculate for a simple glass former e IS , the energy of the inherent structure, in equilibrium and in the out-of-equilibrium situation. We show that e IS can be used to define for the aging system an effective time-dependent temperature T e ( t ). In particular we demonstrate that during the aging process the system visits at time t configurations which are typical for the equilibrium system at temperature T e ( t ).