Observable dependence of fluctuation-dissipation relations and effective temperatures

We study the nonequilibrium fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) in the glass phase of Bouchaud’s trap model. We incorporate an arbitrary observable m and obtain its correlation and response functions in closed form. A limiting nonequilibrium FDT plot is approached at long times for most choices of m. In contrast to standard mean field models, however, the shape of the plot depends nontrivially on the observable, and its slope varies continuously even though there is a single scaling of relaxation times with age. Nonequilibrium FDT plots can therefore not be used to define a meaningful effective temperature Teff in this model. Consequences for the wider applicability of an FDT-derived Teff are discussed