Thermal activation of atomic rearrangements in elastically deformed Ni50Zr50 metallic glasses

► Elastically deformed metallic glasses were perturbed with atom displacements. ► The existence of unstable regions prone to local rearrangements was pointed out. ► The displacement length at which rearrangements occur decreases with strain. ► Rearrangements occur when such length approaches the thermal vibration amplitudes.