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arXiv:cond-mat/0409688 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Dynamics at a smeared phase transition

Bernard J. Fendler, Rastko Sknepnek, Thomas Vojta

Published Mar 3, 2005• 3 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the effects of rare regions on the dynamics of Ising magnets with planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions. In these systems, the magnetic phase transition is smeared because static long-range order can develop on isolated rare regions. We first study an infinite-range model by numerically solving local dynamic mean-field equations. Then we use extremal statistics and scaling arguments to discuss the dynamics beyond mean-field theory. In the tail region of the smeared transition the dynamics is even slower than in a conventional Griffiths phase: the spin autocorrelation function decays like a stretched exponential at intermediate times before approaching the exponentially small equilibrium value following a power law at late times.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/38/11/003

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We investigate the effects of rare regions on the dynamics of Ising magnets with planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions. In these systems, the magnetic phase transition is smeared because static long-range order can develop on isolated rare regions. We first study an infinite-range model by numerically solving local dynamic mean-field equations. Then we use extremal statistics and scaling arguments to discuss the dynamics beyond mean-field theory. In the tail region of the smeared transition the dynamics is even slower than in a conventional Griffiths phase: the spin autocorrelation function decays like a stretched exponential at intermediate times before approaching the exponentially small equilibrium value following a power law at late times.
We present results of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations for a three-dimensional Ising model with short-range interactions and planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions. We show that the phase transition in this system is smeared, i.e., there is no single critical temperature, but different parts of the system order at different temperatures. This is caused by effects similar to but stronger than Griffiths phenomena. In an infinite-size sample there is an exponentially small but finite probability to find an arbitrary large region devoid of impurities. Such a rare region can develop true long-range order while the bulk system is still in the disordered phase. We compute the thermodynamic magnetization and its finite-size effects, the local magnetization, and the probability distribution of the ordering temperatures for different samples. Our Monte-Carlo results are in good agreement with a recent theory based on extremal statistics.
We show that phase transitions in Ising systems with planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions are destroyed by smearing. This is caused by effects similar to but stronger than the Griffiths phenomena: exponentially rare spatial regions can develop true static long-range order even when the bulk system is still in its disordered phase. Close to the smeared transition, the order parameter is very inhomogeneous in space, with the thermodynamic (average) order parameter depending exponentially on temperature. We determine the behaviour using extremal statistics, and we illustrate the results by computer simulations.
We show that phase transitions in Ising systems with planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions are destroyed by smearing. This is caused by effects similar to but stronger than the Griffiths phenomena: exponentially rare spatial regions can develop true static long-range order even when the bulk system is still in its disordered phase. Close to the smeared transition, the order parameter is very inhomogeneous in space, with the thermodynamic (average) order parameter depending exponentially on temperature. We determine the behaviour using extremal statistics, and we illustrate the results by computer simulations.
We consider the influence of quenched spatial disorder on phase transitions in classical and quantum systems. We show that rare strong disorder fluctuations can have dramatic effects on critical points. In classical systems with sufficiently correlated disorder or in quantum systems with overdamped dynamics they can completely destroy the sharp phase transition by smearing. This is caused by effects similar to but stronger than Griffiths phenomena: True static order can develop on a rare region while the bulk system is still in the disordered phase. We discuss the thermodynamic behavior in the vicinity of such a smeared transition using optimal fluctuation theory, and we present numerical results for a two-dimensional model system.
We investigate the nonequilibrium phase transition in the disordered contact process in the presence of long-range spatial disorder correlations. These correlations greatly increase the probability for finding rare regions that are locally in the active phase while the bulk system is still in the inactive phase. Specifically, if the correlations decay as a power of the distance, the rare-region probability is a stretched exponential of the rare-region size rather than a simple exponential as is the case for uncorrelated disorder. As a result, the Griffiths singularities are enhanced and take a non-power-law form. The critical point itself is of infinite-randomness type but with critical exponent values that differ from the uncorrelated case. We report large-scale Monte Carlo simulations that verify and illustrate our theory. We also discuss generalizations to higher dimensions and applications to other systems such as the random transverse-field Ising model, itinerant magnets, and the superconductor-metal transition.
Abstract We consider the influence of quenched spatial disorder on phase transitions in classical and quantum systems. We show that rare strong disorder fluctuations can have dramatic effects on critical points. In classical systems with sufficiently correlated disorder or in quantum systems with overdamped dynamics they can completely destroy the sharp phase transition by smearing. This is caused by effects similar to but stronger than Griffiths phenomena: True static order can develop on a rare region while the bulk system is still in the disordered phase. We discuss the thermodynamic behavior in the vicinity of such a smeared transition using optimal fluctuation theory, and we present numerical results for a two‐dimensional model system. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)