  Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the transient response of a
binary Lennard-Jones glass subjected to periodic shear deformation. The
amorphous solid is modelled as the three-dimensional Kob-Andersen binary
mixture at a low temperature. The cyclic loading is applied to slowly annealed,
quiescent samples, which induces irreversible particle rearrangements at large
strain amplitudes, leading to stress-strain hysteresis and a drift of the
potential energy towards higher values. We find that the initial response to
cyclic shear near the critical strain amplitude involves disconnected clusters
of atoms with large nonaffine displacements. In contrast, the amplitude of
shear stress oscillations decreases after a certain number of cycles, which is
accompanied by the initiation and subsequent growth of a shear band.
