Comment on "Evidence for nontrivial ground-state structure of 3d +/- J spin glasses"

In a recent Letter [Europhys. Lett. 40, 429 (1997)], Hartmann presented results for the structure of the degenerate ground states of the three-dimensional +/- J spin glass model obtained using a genetic algorithm. In this Comment, I argue that the method does not produce the correct thermodynamic distribution of ground states and therefore gives erroneous results for the overlap distribution. I present results of simulated annealing calculations using different annealing rates for cubic lattices with N=4*4*4spins. The disorder-averaged overlap distribution exhibits a significant dependence on the annealing rate, even when the energy has converged. For fast annealing, moments of the distribution are similar to those presented by Hartmann. However, as the annealing rate is lowered, they approach the results previously obtained using a multi-canonical Monte Carlo method. This shows explicitly that care must be taken not only to reach states with the lowest energy but also to ensure that they obey the correct thermodynamic distribution, i.e., that the probability is the same for reaching any of the ground states.Comment: 2 pages, Revtex, 1 PostScript figur

Models as a Tool for Theory Construction: Some Strategies of Preliminary Physics

Theoretical models are an important tool for many aspects of scientific activity. They are used, i.a., to structure data, to apply theories or even to construct new theories. But what exactly is a model? It turns out that there is no proper definition of the term "model" that covers all these aspects. Thus, I restrict myself here to evaluate the function of models in the research process while using "model" in the loose way physicists do. To this end, I distinguish four kinds of models. These are (1) models as special theories, (2) models as a substitute for a theory, (3) toy models and (4) developmental models. I argue that models of the types (3) and (4) are considerably useful in the process of theory construction. This will be demonstrated in an extended case-study from High-Energy Physics.Articl

Review of J. Cushing: Philosophical Concepts in Physics

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Modeling High-Temperature Superconductivity: Correspondence at Bay?

How does a predecessor theory relate to its successor? According to Heinz Post's General Correspondence Principle, the successor theory has to account for the empirical success of its predecessor. After a critical discussion of this principle, I outline and discuss various kinds of correspondence relations that hold between successive scientific theories. I then look in some detail at a case study from contemporary physics: the various proposals for a theory of high-temperature superconductivity. The aim of this case study is to understand better the prospects and the place of a methodological principle such as the Generalized Correspondence Principle. Generalizing from the case study, I will then argue that some such principle has to be considered, at best, as one tool that might guide scientists in their theorizing. Finally I present a tentative account of why principles such as the Generalized Correspondence Principle work so often and why there is so much continuity in scientific theorizing.Articl

Effective Field Theories, Reduction and Scientific Explanation,

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