  Dynamic heterogeneity in glass-formers has been related to their static
structure using the concept of dynamic propensity. We re-examine this
relationship by analyzing dynamical fluctuations in two atomistic glass-formers
and two theoretical models. We introduce quantitative statistical indicators
which show that the dynamics of individual particles cannot be predicted on the
basis of the propensity, nor by any structural indicator. However, the spatial
structure of the propensity field does have predictive power for the spatial
correlations associated with dynamic heterogeneity. Our results suggest that
the quest for a connection between static and dynamic properties of
glass-formers at the particle level is vain, but they demonstrate that such
connection does exist on larger length scales.
