Static and dynamic critical behavior at surfaces

S. Dietrich, Hans Werner Diehl

S. Dietrich, Horst Diehl

Hans Werner Diehl

We investigate the problem of which universality classes of dynamic surface critical behavior exist for semi-infinite systems whose dynamic bulk critical behavior and static surface critical behavior are representative of a given dynamic bulk universality class and a given static surface universality class. To this end systems whose bulk dynamics are described by either model B or model A of Halperin, Hohenberg, and Ma are considered, where the dynamics are allowed to be modified near the surface as follows: In the case of model B, surface terms that locally break the conservation law for the order-parameter density \ensuremath{\varphi} are allowed; in the case of model A, \ensuremath{\varphi} is assumed to be locally conserved near the surface. Semi-infinite field-theory models are constructed that are (i) compatible with the requested bulk dynamics and the requirements of causality, detailed balance, and relaxation to thermal equilibrium and (ii) minimal in the sense that no redundant or irrelevant surface terms are included. The boundary conditions to which the surface terms of the action correspond are worked out. For model B it is shown that nonconservative surface terms are relevant. Their strength can be parametrized by a coupling constant c${\mathrm{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}}_{0}$\ensuremath{\ge}0 whose inverse plays the role of an extrapolation length for the auxiliary (Martin-Siggia-Rose) field \ensuremath{\varphi}\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}. Thus two distinct semi-infinite extensions of model B exist---one with c${\mathrm{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}}_{0}$>0 called model ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{A}}$, and one with c${\mathrm{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}}_{0}$=0 called model ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{B}}$---and each static surface universality class splits up into two dynamic surface universality classes.The static and dynamic surface critical exponents of these dynamic surface universality classes as well as the crossover exponent associated with the nonconservative surface term are shown to be expressible in terms of static bulk and surface exponents. Model ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{A}}$ and its results should apply, e.g., to uniaxial ferromagnets whose rotational spin symmetry is broken in the vicinity of a surface plane. For model A the considered local modification of the dynamics near the surface is irrelevant in the renormalization-group sense and hence does not lead to new dynamic surface universality classes.

Hans Werner Diehl, M. Krech, H. Karl

The dynamic critical behavior of isotropic Heisenberg ferromagnets with a planar free surface is investigated by means of field-theoretic renormalization group techniques and high-precision computer simulations. An appropriate semi-infinite extension of the stochastic model J is constructed. The relevant boundary terms of the action of the associated dynamic field theory are identified, the implied boundary conditions are derived, and the renormalization of the model in $d<6$ bulk dimensions is clarified. Two distinct renormalization schemes are utilized. The first is a massless one based on minimal subtraction of dimensional poles and the dimensionality expansion about $d=6.$ To overcome its problems in going below $d=4$ dimensions, a massive one for fixed dimensions $d<~4$ is constructed. The resulting renormalization group (or Callan-Symanzik) equations are exploited to obtain the scaling forms of surface quantities like the dynamic structure factor. In conjunction with boundary operator expansions scaling relations follow that relate the critical indices of the dynamic and static infrared singularities of surface quantities to familiar static bulk and surface exponents. To test the predicted scaling forms and scaling-law expressions for the critical exponents involved, accurate computer-simulation data are presented for the dynamic surface structure factor. These are in conformity with our predictions.

Kurt Binder, David Paul Landau

Andreas Weitzel, Gernot Schaller, Friedemann Queißer +1 more

Langevin dynamics simulations are used to analyze the static and dynamic properties of an $XY$ model adapted to dimers forming on Si(001) surfaces. The numerics utilize high-performance parallel computation methods on GPUs. The static exponent $\ensuremath{\nu}$ of the symmetry-broken $XY$ model is determined to $\ensuremath{\nu}=1.04$. The dynamic critical exponent $z$ is determined to $z=2.13$ and, together with $\ensuremath{\nu}$, shows the behavior of the Ising universality class. For time-dependent temperatures, we observe frozen domains and compare their size distribution with predictions from Kibble-Zurek theory. We determine a significantly larger quench exponent that shows little dependence on the damping or the symmetry-breaking field.