Journal Article

Thermodynamic glass transition in a spin glass without time-reversal symmetry

Tarancon, Alfonso, Tripiccione, Raffaele, Muñoz Sudupe, Antonio, Yllanes, David, Marinari, Enzo, Martin-Mayor, Victor, Schifano, Sebastiano Fabio, Tellez, Pedro, Iñiguez, David, Perez-Gaviro, Sergio, Fernandez, Luis Antonio, Seoane, Beatriz, Baños, Raquel Alvarez, Monforte-Garcia, Jorge, Cruz, Andres, Gil-Narvion, Jose Miguel, Guidetti, Marco, Gordillo-Guerrero, Antonio, Maiorano, Andrea, Parisi, Giorgio, Navarro, Denis, Ruiz-Lorenzo, Juan Jesus

2012

Overview

Spin glasses are a longstanding model for the sluggish dynamics that appear at the glass transition. However, spin glasses differ from structural glasses in a crucial feature: they enjoy a time reversal symmetry. This symmetry can be broken by applying an external magnetic field, but embarrassingly little is known about the critical behavior of a spin glass in a field. In this context, the space dimension is crucial. Simulations are easier to interpret in a large number of dimensions, but one must work below the upper critical dimension (i.e., in d < 6) in order for results to have relevance for experiments. Here we show conclusive evidence for the presence of a phase transition in a four-dimensional spin glass in a field. Two ingredients were crucial for this achievement: massive numerical simulations were carried out on the Janus special-purpose computer, and a new and powerful finite-size scaling method.

• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences,National Acad Sciences
• Subject: Bosons / Critical points / Critical temperature / Fishing lines / Glass / glass transition / ingredients / Magnetic fields / Mathematical lattices / mathematical models / Phase transitions / Physical Sciences / Simulation / Spin glasses / Tempering / Thermodynamics / Universality