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arXiv:1710.01670 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Domain-wall excitations in the two-dimensional Ising spin glass

Hamid Khoshbakht, Martin Weigel

Published Feb 16, 2018• 34 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Ising spin glass in two dimensions is a model system with extraordinarily rich behavior. Although it does not show a spin-glass phase at finite temperatures, it exhibits many of the salient features of fully fledged spin glass systems. The authors use recently developed mappings to graph-theoretic problems together with highly efficient implementations of combinatorial optimization algorithms to determine exact ground states for systems with up to $10,000\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}10,000$ spins. These and further results from new algorithms for fully periodic lattices and for systems with degeneracies allow for the determination of critical exponents with unprecedented accuracy.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.97.064410

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The Ising spin glass in two dimensions is a model system with extraordinarily rich behavior. Although it does not show a spin-glass phase at finite temperatures, it exhibits many of the salient features of fully fledged spin glass systems. The authors use recently developed mappings to graph-theoretic problems together with highly efficient implementations of combinatorial optimization algorithms to determine exact ground states for systems with up to 10,000\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10,00010,000\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}10,00010,000\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10,000 spins. These and further results from new algorithms for fully periodic lattices and for systems with degeneracies allow for the determination of critical exponents with unprecedented accuracy.
We study large-scale, low-energy excitations in the Ising spin glass with Gaussian interactions in two dimensions at zero temperature, using an optimization algorithm to determine exact ground states. Periodic boundary conditions are applied. Our results for the fractal dimension of the surface, ds,{d}_{s},ds​, and stiffness exponent, ${\ensuremath{\theta}}^{\ensuremath{'}},$ for ``droplet'' excitations, are in reasonable agreement with estimates from ``domain wall'' calculations, and so support the predictions of the ``droplet theory.'' Restricting our analysis to small lattices, we do not find an effective value of ${\ensuremath{\theta}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ close to $\ensuremath{-}0.47$ as has been recently proposed. The effects of averaging over droplets of different sizes are studied and are also found to be too small to give ${\ensuremath{\theta}}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}0.47$ for smaller sizes. Larger corrections to finite-size scaling would be needed in three and four dimensions in order for the numerical data used to support the ``TNT'' scenario to be compatible with the droplet theory prediction that the stiffness exponent is the same for droplets and domain walls.
We present a collection of simulations of the Edwards–Anderson lattice spin glass at T=0 to elucidate the nature of low-energy excitations over a range of dimensions that reach from physically realizable systems to the mean-field limit. Using heuristic methods, we sample the ground states of instances to determine their energies while eliciting excitations through manipulating boundary conditions. We exploit the universality of the phase diagram of bond-diluted lattices to make such a study in higher dimensions computationally feasible. As a result, we obtain a variety of accurate exponents for domain wall stiffness and finite-size corrections, which allow us to examine their dimensional behavior and their connection with predictions from mean-field theory. We also provide an experimentally testable prediction for the thermal-to-percolative crossover exponent in dilute lattice Ising spin glasses.
Exact ground states of two-dimensional Ising spin glasses with Gaussian and bimodal $(\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}J)$ distributions of the disorder are calculated using a ``matching''algorithm, which allows large system sizes of up to N=4802{N=480}^{2}N=4802 spins to be investigated. We study domain walls induced by two rather different types of boundary condition changes, and, in each case, analyze the system-size dependence of an appropriately defined ``defect energy,'' which we denote by $\ensuremath{\Delta}E.$ For Gaussian disorder, we find a power-law behavior $\ensuremath{\Delta}E\ensuremath{\sim}{L}^{\ensuremath{\theta}},$ with $\ensuremath{\theta}=\ensuremath{-}0.266(2)$ and $\ensuremath{\theta}=\ensuremath{-}0.282(2)$ for the two types of boundary condition changes. These results are in reasonable agreement with each other, allowing for small systematic effects. They also agree well with earlier work on smaller sizes. The negative value indicates that two dimensions is below the lower critical dimension dc.{d}_{c}.dc​. For the $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}J$ model, we obtain a different result, namely that the domain-wall energy saturates at a nonzero value for $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{L}\ensuremath{\infty},$ so $\ensuremath{\theta}=0,$ indicating that the lower critical dimension for the $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}J$ model is exactly dc=2.{d}_{c}=2.dc​=2.
We perform Monte Carlo simulations of large two-dimensional Gaussian Ising spin glasses down to very low temperatures $\ensuremath{\beta}=1∕T=50$. Equilibration is ensured by using a cluster algorithm including Monte Carlo moves consisting of flipping fundamental excitations. We study the thermodynamic behavior using the Binder cumulant, the spin-glass susceptibility, the distribution of overlaps, the overlap with the ground state, and the specific heat. We confirm that Tc=0{T}_{c}=0Tc​=0. All results are compatible with an algebraic divergence of the correlation length with an exponent $\ensuremath{\nu}$. We find $\ensuremath{-}1∕\ensuremath{\nu}=\ensuremath{-}0.295(40)$, which is compatible with the value for the domain-wall and droplet exponent $\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}0.29$ found previously in ground-state studies. Hence the thermodynamic behavior of this model seems to be governed by one single exponent.
By using problem-dependent mappings to computer-science problems and by applying sophisticated algorithms, one can numerically study some important problems much better compared to applying standard approaches, such as Monte Carlo simulations. Here, by using calculations of ground states of suitable perturbed systems, droplets are obtained in two-dimensional $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}J$ spin glasses, which are in the focus of a currently very lively debate. By using a sophisticated matching algorithm, exact ground states of large systems up to L2=2562{L}^{2}={256}^{2}L2=2562 spins can be generated. Furthermore, no equilibration or extrapolation to T=0T=0T=0 is necessary. Three different $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}J$ models are studied here: (a) with free boundary conditions, (b) with fixed boundary conditions, and (c) a diluted system wherein a fraction p=0.125p=0.125p=0.125 of all bonds is zero. For large systems, the droplet energy shows for all three models a power-law behavior ${E}_{\text{dp}}\ensuremath{\sim}{L}^{{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\text{dp}}^{\ensuremath{'}}}$ with ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\text{dp}}^{\ensuremath{'}}<0$. This is different from the previous studies of domain walls, wherein a convergence to a constant nonzero value $({\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\text{DW}}=0)$ was found. After correcting for the noncompactness of the droplets, the results are likely to be compatible with ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\text{dp}}\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}0.29$ for all three models. This is in accordance with the Gaussian system wherein ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\text{dp}}=\ensuremath{-}0.287(4)$ ($\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\approx}3.5$ via $\ensuremath{\nu}=\ensuremath{-}1/{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\text{dp}}$). Nevertheless, the disorder-averaged spin-spin correlation exponent $\ensuremath{\eta}$ is determined here via the probability to have a nonzero-energy droplet, and $\ensuremath{\eta}\ensuremath{\approx}0.22$ is found for all three models, in contrast to the model with the Gaussian interactions, where $\ensuremath{\eta}=0$ is exact.
An efficient Monte Carlo method is extended to evaluate directly domain-wall free energy for randomly frustrated spin systems. Using the method, critical phenomena of spin-glass phase transition are investigated in the 4d+/-J Ising model under the replica boundary condition. Our values of the critical temperature and exponent, obtained by finite-size scaling, are in good agreement with those of the standard Monte Carlo and the series expansion studies. In addition, two exponents, the stiffness exponent and the fractal dimension of the domain wall, which characterize the ordered phase, are obtained. The latter value is larger than d-1, indicating that the domain wall is really rough in the 4d Ising spin-glass phase.