It was noted that the structure of quasicrystals permitted phason flips in which atoms could jump to equivalent alternative positions. These jumps were a discrete representation of the phason strain in the continuum description. Jumps in one of the Burkov models for decagonal Al-Cu-Co quasicrystals were studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Correlated jumps of 2 atoms within a layer were found in the decagonal structures. These were equivalent to the flips which were predicted by a tiling description of the model.

Molecular Dynamics Studies of Atomic Jumps in d-Al-Cu-Co. D.Bunz, G.Zeger, J.Roth, M.Hohl, H.R.Trebin: Materials Science and Engineering A, 2001, 294-296, 675-9