We study the random-field Ising chain in the limit of strong exchange coupling. In order to calculate the free energy we apply a continuous Langevin-type approach. This continuous model can be solved exactly, whereupon we are able to locate the crossover between an exponential and a power-law decay of the free energy with increasing coupling strength. In terms of magnetization, this crossover restricts the validity of the linear scaling. The known analytical results for the free energy are recovered in the corresponding limits. The outcomes of numerical computations for the free energy are presented, which confirm the results of the continuous approach. We also discuss the validity of the replica method which we then utilize to investigate the sample-to-sample fluctuations of the finite size free energy.
We study the random-field Ising chain in the limit of strong exchange coupling. In order to calculate the free energy we apply a continuous Langevin-type approach. This continuous model can be solved exactly, whereupon we are able to locate the crossover between an exponential and a power-law decay of the free energy with increasing coupling strength. In terms of magnetization, this crossover restricts the validity of the linear scaling. The known analytical results for the free energy are recovered in the corresponding limits. The outcomes of numerical computations for the free energy are presented, which confirm the results of the continuous approach. We also discuss the validity of the replica method which we then utilize to investigate the sample-to-sample fluctuations of the finite size free energy.
The presence of a random magnetic field in ferromagnetic systems leads, in the broken phase, to an anomalous convergence of some thermodynamic quantities to their asymptotic limits. Here we show a general method, based on the replica trick, to compute analytically the finite size correction to the average free energy. We apply this method to two mean field Ising models, fully connected and random regular graphs, and compare the results to exact numerical algorithms. We argue that this behaviour is present in finite dimensional models as well.
The presence of a random magnetic field in ferromagnetic systems leads, in the broken phase, to an anomalous convergence of some thermodynamic quantities to their asymptotic limits. Here we show a general method, based on the replica trick, to compute analytically the finite size correction to the average free energy. We apply this method to two mean field Ising models, fully connected and random regular graphs, and compare the results to exact numerical algorithms. We argue that this behaviour is present in finite dimensional models as well.
In systems belonging to the universality class of the random field Ising model, the standard hyperscaling relation between critical exponents does not hold, but is replaced with a modified hyperscaling relation. As a result, standard formulations of finite-size scaling near critical points break down. In this work, the consequences of modified hyperscaling are analyzed in detail. The most striking outcome is that the free-energy cost ΔF of interface formation at the critical point is no longer a universal constant, but instead increases as a power law with system size, ΔF∝L(θ), with θ as the violation of hyperscaling critical exponent and L as the linear extension of the system. This modified behavior facilitates a number of numerical approaches that can be used to locate critical points in random field systems from finite-size simulation data. We test and confirm the approaches on two random field systems in three dimensions, namely, the random field Ising model and the demixing transition in the Widom-Rowlinson fluid with quenched obstacles.
Method of Calculating the Free Energy of Three-Dimensional Ising-Like System in an External Field with the Use of the ρ6 Model
The microscopic approach to calculating the free energy of a three-dimensional Ising-like system in a homogeneous external field is developed in the higher non-Gaussian approximation (the ρ6 model) at temperatures above the critical value of Tc (Tc is the phase-transition temperature in the absence of an external field). The free energy of the system is found by separating the contributions from the short- and long-wave spin-density oscillation modes taking into account both the temperature and field fluctuations of the order parameter. Our analytical calculations do not involve power series in the scaling variable and are valid in the whole field-temperature plane near the critical point including the region in the vicinity of the limiting field h~c, which divides external fields into the weak and strong ones (i.e., the crossover region). In this region, the temperature and field effects on the system are equivalent, the scaling variable is of the order of unity, and power series are not efficient. The obtained expression for the free energy contains the leading terms and terms determining the temperature and field confluent corrections.
The nonequilibrium dynamics of classical random Ising spin chains with nonconserved magnetization are studied using an asymptotically exact real space renormalization group (RSRG). We focus on random field Ising model (RFIM) spin chains with and without a uniform applied field, as well as on Ising spin glass chains in an applied field. For the RFIM we consider a universal regime where the random field and the temperature are both much smaller than the exchange coupling. In this regime, the Imry-Ma length that sets the scale of the equilibrium correlations is large and the coarsening of domains from random initial conditions (e.g., a quench from high temperature) occurs over a wide range of length scales. The two types of domain walls that occur diffuse in opposite random potentials, of the form studied by Sinai, and domain walls annihilate when they meet. Using the RSRG we compute many universal asymptotic properties of both the nonequilibrium dynamics and the equilibrium limit. We find that the configurations of the domain walls converge rapidly toward a set of system-specific time-dependent positions that are independent of the initial conditions. Thus the behavior of this nonequilibrium system is pseudodeterministic at long times because of the broad distributions of barriers that occur on the long length scales involved. Specifically, we obtain the time dependence of the energy, the magnetization, and the distribution of domain sizes (found to be statistically independent). The equilibrium limits agree with known exact results. We obtain the exact scaling form of the two-point equal time correlation function <S0(t)Sx(t)> and the two-time autocorrelations <S0(t('))S0(t)>. We also compute the persistence properties of a single spin, of local magnetization, and of domains. The analogous quantities for the +/-J Ising spin glass in an applied field are obtained from the RFIM via a gauge transformation. In addition to these we compute the two-point two-time correlation function <S0(t)Sx(t)><S0(t('))Sx(t('))> which can in principle be measured by experiments on spin-glass-like systems. The thermal fluctuations are studied and found to be dominated by rare events; in particular all moments of truncated equal time correlations are computed. Physical properties which are typically measured in aging experiments are also studied, focusing on the response to a small magnetic field which is applied after waiting for the system to equilibrate for a time t(w). The nonequilibrium fluctuation-dissipation ratio X(t,t(w)) is computed. We find that for (t-t(w)) approximately t(alpha)(w) with alpha;<1, the ratio equal to its equilibrium value X=1, although time translational invariance does not hold in this regime. For t-t(w) approximately t(w) the ratio exhibits an aging regime with a nontrivial X=X(t/t(w)) not equal to 1, but the behavior is markedly different from mean field theory. Finally the distribution of the total magnetization and of the number of domains is computed for large finite size systems. General issues about convergence toward equilibrium and the possibilities of weakly history-dependent evolution in other random systems are discussed.
Transfer-matrix methods are used to calculate spin-spin correlation functions (G), Helmholtz free energies (f) and magnetizations (m) in the two-dimensional random-field Ising model close to the zero-field bulk critical temperature T(c 0), on long strips of width L=3-18 sites, for binary field distributions. Analysis of the probability distributions of G for varying spin-spin distances R shows that describing the decay of their averaged values by effective correlation lengths is a valid procedure only for not very large R. Connections between field and correlation function distributions at high temperatures are established, yielding approximate analytical expressions for the latter, which are used for computation of the corresponding structure factor. It is shown that, for fixed R/L, the fractional widths of correlation-function distributions saturate asymptotically with L-2.2. Considering an added uniform applied field h, a connection between f(h), m(h), the Gibbs free energy g(m) and the distribution function for the uniform magnetization in a zero uniform field, P0(m), is derived and first illustrated for pure systems, and then applied for nonzero random field. From finite-size scaling and crossover arguments, coupled with numerical data, it is found that the width of P0(m) varies against (nonvanishing, but small) random-field intensity H0 as H(-3/7)(0).