Controlling the Range of Interactions in the Classical Inertial Ferromagnetic Heisenberg Model: Analysis of Metastable States

A numerical analysis of a one-dimensional Hamiltonian system, composed by $N$ classical localized Heisenberg rotators on a ring, is presented. A distance $r_{ij}$ between rotators at sites $i$ and $j$ is introduced, such that the corresponding two-body interaction decays with $r_{ij}$ as a power-law, $1/r_{ij}^{\alpha}$ ($\alpha \ge 0$). The index $\alpha$ controls the range of the interactions, in such a way that one recovers both the fully-coupled (i.e., mean-field limit) and nearest-neighbour-interaction models in the particular limits $\alpha=0$ and $\alpha\to\infty$, respectively. The dynamics of the model is investigated for energies $U$ below its critical value ($U<U_{c}$), with initial conditions corresponding to zero magnetization. The presence of quasi-stationary states (QSSs), whose durations $t_{\rm QSS}$ increase for increasing values of $N$, is verified for values of $\alpha$ in the range $0 \leq \alpha <1$, like the ones found for the similar model of XY rotators. Moreover, for a given energy $U$, our numerical analysis indicates that $t_{\rm QSS} \sim N^{\gamma}$, where the exponent $\gamma$ decreases for increasing $\alpha$ in the range $0 \leq \alpha <1$, and particularly, our results suggest that $\gamma \to 0$ as $\alpha \to 1$. The growth of $t_{\rm QSS}$ with $N$ could be interpreted as a breakdown of ergodicity, which is shown herein to occur for any value of $\alpha$ in this interval.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Validity and Failure of the Boltzmann Weight

The dynamics and thermostatistics of a classical inertial XY model, characterized by long-range interactions, are investigated on $d$-dimensional lattices ($d=1,2,$ and 3), through molecular dynamics. The interactions between rotators decay with the distance $r_{ij}$ like~$1/r_{ij}^{\alpha}$ ($\alpha \geq 0$), where $\alpha\to\infty$ and $\alpha=0$ respectively correspond to the nearest-neighbor and infinite-range interactions. We verify that the momenta probability distributions are Maxwellians in the short-range regime, whereas $q$-Gaussians emerge in the long-range regime. Moreover, in this latter regime, the individual energy probability distributions are characterized by long tails, corresponding to $q$-exponential functions. The present investigation strongly indicates that, in the long-range regime, central properties fall out of the scope of Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics, depending on $d$ and $\alpha$ through the ratio $\alpha/d$.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To appear in EP

Thermodynamic Framework for Compact q-Gaussian Distributions

Recent works have associated systems of particles, characterized by short-range repulsive interactions and evolving under overdamped motion, to a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation within the class of nonextensive statistical mechanics, with a nonlinear diffusion contribution whose exponent is given by $\nu=2-q$. The particular case $\nu=2$ applies to interacting vortices in type-II superconductors, whereas $\nu>2$ covers systems of particles characterized by short-range power-law interactions, where correlations among particles are taken into account. In the former case, several studies presented a consistent thermodynamic framework based on the definition of an effective temperature $\theta$ (presenting experimental values much higher than typical room temperatures $T$, so that thermal noise could be neglected), conjugated to a generalized entropy $s_{\nu}$ (with $\nu=2$). Herein, the whole thermodynamic scheme is revisited and extended to systems of particles interacting repulsively, through short-ranged potentials, described by an entropy $s_{\nu}$, with $\nu>1$, covering the $\nu=2$ (vortices in type-II superconductors) and $\nu>2$ (short-range power-law interactions) physical examples. The main results achieved are: (a) The definition of an effective temperature $\theta$ conjugated to the entropy $s_{\nu}$; (b) The construction of a Carnot cycle, whose efficiency is shown to be $\eta=1-(\theta_2/\theta_1)$, where $\theta_1$ and $\theta_2$ are the effective temperatures associated with two isothermal transformations, with $\theta_1>\theta_2$; (c) Thermodynamic potentials, Maxwell relations, and response functions. The present thermodynamic framework, for a system of interacting particles under the above-mentioned conditions, and associated to an entropy $s_{\nu}$, with $\nu>1$, certainly enlarges the possibility of experimental verifications.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur

Spin-Glass Attractor on Tridimensional Hierarchical Lattices in the Presence of an External Magnetic Field

A nearest-neighbor-interaction Ising spin glass, in the presence of an external magnetic field, is studied on different hierarchical lattices that approach the cubic lattice. The magnetic field is considered as uniform, or random (following either a bimodal or a Gaussian probability distribution). In all cases, a spin-glass attractor is found, in the plane magnetic field versus temperature, associated with a low-temperature phase. The physical consequences of this attractor are discussed, in view of the present scenario of the spin-glass problem.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Destruction of first-order phase transition in a random-field Ising model

The phase transitions that occur in an infinite-range-interaction Ising ferromagnet in the presence of a double-Gaussian random magnetic field are analyzed. Such random fields are defined as a superposition of two Gaussian distributions, presenting the same width $\sigma$. Is is argued that this distribution is more appropriate for a theoretical description of real systems than its simpler particular cases, i.e., the bimodal ($\sigma=0$) and the single Gaussian distributions. It is shown that a low-temperature first-order phase transition may be destructed for increasing values of $\sigma$, similarly to what happens in the compound $Fe_{x}Mg_{1-x}Cl_{2}$, whose finite-temperature first-order phase transition is presumably destructed by an increase in the field randomness.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Consequences of the H-Theorem from Nonlinear Fokker-Planck Equations

A general type of nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation is derived directly from a master equation, by introducing generalized transition rates. The H-theorem is demonstrated for systems that follow those classes of nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations, in the presence of an external potential. For that, a relation involving terms of Fokker-Planck equations and general entropic forms is proposed. It is shown that, at equilibrium, this relation is equivalent to the maximum-entropy principle. Families of Fokker-Planck equations may be related to a single type of entropy, and so, the correspondence between well-known entropic forms and their associated Fokker-Planck equations is explored. It is shown that the Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy, apart from its connection with the standard -- linear Fokker-Planck equation -- may be also related to a family of nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations.Comment: 19 pages, no figure

q-Gaussians in the porous-medium equation: stability and time evolution

The stability of $q$-Gaussian distributions as particular solutions of the linear diffusion equation and its generalized nonlinear form, \pderiv{P(x,t)}{t} = D \pderiv{^2 [P(x,t)]^{2-q}}{x^2}, the \emph{porous-medium equation}, is investigated through both numerical and analytical approaches. It is shown that an \emph{initial} $q$-Gaussian, characterized by an index $q_i$, approaches the \emph{final}, asymptotic solution, characterized by an index $q$, in such a way that the relaxation rule for the kurtosis evolves in time according to a $q$-exponential, with a \emph{relaxation} index $q_{\rm rel} \equiv q_{\rm rel}(q)$. In some cases, particularly when one attempts to transform an infinite-variance distribution ($q_i \ge 5/3$) into a finite-variance one ($q<5/3$), the relaxation towards the asymptotic solution may occur very slowly in time. This fact might shed some light on the slow relaxation, for some long-range-interacting many-body Hamiltonian systems, from long-standing quasi-stationary states to the ultimate thermal equilibrium state.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

First-Principle Validation of Fourier's Law: One-Dimensional Classical Inertial Heisenberg Model

The thermal conductance of a one-dimensional classical inertial Heisenberg model of linear size $L$ is computed, considering the first and last particles in thermal contact with heat baths at higher and lower temperatures, $T_{h}$ and $T_{l}$ ($T_{h}>T_{l}$), respectively. These particles at extremities of the chain are subjected to standard Langevin dynamics, whereas all remaining rotators ($i=2, \cdots , L-1$) interact by means of nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic couplings and evolve in time following their own equations of motion, being investigated numerically through molecular-dynamics numerical simulations. Fourier's law for the heat flux is verified numerically with the thermal conductivity becoming independent of the lattice size in the limit $L \to \infty$, scaling with the temperature as $\kappa(T) \sim T^{-2.25}$, where $T=(T_{h}+T_{l})/2$. Moreover, the thermal conductance, $\sigma(L,T)=\kappa(T)/L$, is well-fitted by a function, typical of nonextensive statistical mechanics, according to $\sigma(L,T)=A \exp_{q}(-B x^{\eta})$, where $A$ and $B$ are constants, $x=L^{0.475}T$, $q=2.28 \pm 0.04$, and $\eta=2.88 \pm 0.04$