The random-field Ising model shows an extreme critical slowdown that has been described by activated dynamic scaling: The characteristic time of relaxation toward equilibrium diverges exponentially with the correlation length $ln\ensuremath{\tau}\ensuremath{\sim}{\ensuremath{\xi}}^{\ensuremath{\psi}}/T$, with $\ensuremath{\psi}$ an a priori unknown barrier exponent. Through a nonperturbative functional renormalization group, we show that for spatial dimensions
d less than a critical value ${d}_{\text{DR}}\ensuremath{\simeq}5.1$, also associated with dimensional-reduction breakdown, $\ensuremath{\psi}=\ensuremath{\theta}$ with $\ensuremath{\theta}$ the temperature exponent near the zero-temperature fixed point that controls the critical behavior. For
d>dDR, on the other hand, $\ensuremath{\psi}=\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{-}2\ensuremath{\lambda}$, where $\ensuremath{\theta}=2$ and $\ensuremath{\lambda}>0$ an additional exponent. At the upper critical dimension $d=6,\ensuremath{\lambda}=1$, so that $\ensuremath{\psi}=0$, and activated scaling gives way to conventional scaling. We give a physical interpretation of the results in terms of collective events in real space, avalanches, and droplets. We also propose a way to check the two regimes by computer simulations of long-range one-dimensional systems.
We study the effect of quenched time-independent random fields coupled linearly to the order parameter on the dynamical critical behavior of spin systems. We assume that the dynamics is described by a Langevin equation without conservation of the order parameter. It is shown that the dominant fluctuations are those induced by the random fields and, therefore, thermal fluctuations are irrelevant. This allows us to establish a relation between this model and a quantum spin system in the presence of a quenched random field. Moreover, we find that only static exponents in
D dimensions are the same as those of the pure ($D\ensuremath{-}2$)-dimensional theory, but the dynamical exponent
z does not satisfy this relation. The quantum system in
D dimensions is studied through its (
D+1)-dimensional equivalent model where the quenched random fields are totally correlated in the additional imaginary-time ($\ensuremath{\tau}$) direction. The system is anisotropic, and there is a new exponent
zA associated with the scaling behavior in the $\ensuremath{\tau}$ direction. We find the relation
z=2zA to all orders in perturbation theory. For the zero-temperature quantum model we find that the static (zero-frequency) exponents are the same as those of the ($D\ensuremath{-}3$)-dimensional pure quantum model. At finite temperature, when the classical system is finite in the $\ensuremath{\tau}$ direction, we predict a crossover to
D-dimensional classical behavior in nonstatic response and correlation functions, with crossover exponent ${({z}_{A}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{(D\ensuremath{-}2)})}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, where ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{(D\ensuremath{-}2)}$ is the exponent $\ensuremath{\nu}$ for the ($D\ensuremath{-}2$)-dimensional pure classical system. The static correlation functions do not have this cross-over behavior and are the same as those of the ($D\ensuremath{-}3$)-dimensional pure quantum model. The dimensional shift in static quantities for both quantum and classical dynamical systems is a consequence of a supersymmetry in the underlying field theory. The exponent ${z}_{A}=1+\ensuremath{\eta}+O(\frac{1}{{N}^{2}})$ in the large-
N limit or ${z}_{A}=1+c\ensuremath{\eta}+O({\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{4})$ in the $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ expansion where $c=1\ensuremath{-}\frac{3}{4}[\frac{(N+2)}{{(N+8)}^{2}}]\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ and $\ensuremath{\eta}$ is the same as in the ($D\ensuremath{-}2$)-dimensional pure classical system. We also study the above classical random-field Ising problem using the interface approach, but are unable to draw any definite conclusion about the dynamics at the lower critical dimension
D=3.
The critical behavior of random-field systems is characterized by exponentially long relaxation times. They may differ by orders of magnitude and slow modes have to be considered quenched with respect to the faster ones. This requires a drastic modification of the renormalization process in which the degrees of freedom are integrated out. A new replica-space renormalization procedure, to carry out the coarse-graining of the time intervals, is presented. We relate by recursion-relations the effective reduced dimensions of consecutive time scales. Their stable fixed-points yield the apparent dimensionalities for the longest and shortest time scales, which are insensitive to the exact behavior on intermediate scales. For Ising systems we find that d = 2 is the lower critical dimension in both regimes. The thermal exponents for d = 3, in the short-time observable regime, are related to those of the pure system in d = 2. This is consistent with the observations in field-cooled random antiferromagnets of the correlation length exponent nu approx. = 1 (by neutron scattering) and of the symmetric logarithmic divergence in the specific-heat (by linear birefringence). 17 refs., 3 figs.
A variety of phenomena is observed experimentally in random-field (RF) systems realized by the application of an external field to diluted antiferromagnets. At low temperatures, infinitely long hysteretic effects are manifested by the history dependence of the final states: long-range order is observed if the field is applied after cooling, while domain states are reached when field cooled. While no indications for critical fluctuations are detected in 2-D systems, scaling behavior, for both the correlation length and the specific heat, is observed in 3-D systems over an intermediate range of temperatures. The related critical properties seem to be well described by the corresponding ones in the 2-D pure Ising model. The renormalization-group approach, which yields for the equilibrium critical exponents their values of the pure model in d−2 dimensions, is reviewed. A generalization of the dimensional-reduction approach, which accounts self-consistently for renormalized responses of the RF system, is presented. The dynamical effects are implicitly incorporated through the variation in the critical response between the local and the global regimes, associated with short- and long-time scales, respectively. In both regimes the lower critical dimension is found to be d=2 in accordance with stability arguments. The short-time critical behavior indicates a dimensional reduction by one for the 3-D thermal exponents, in agreement with the experimental results.