Defect energy of infinite-component vector spin glasses

We compute numerically the zero temperature defect energy, Delta E, of the vector spin glass in the limit of an infinite number of spin components m, for a range of dimensions 2 <= d <= 5. Fitting to Delta E ~ L^theta, where L is the system size, we obtain: theta = -1.54 (d=2), theta = -1.04 (d=3), theta = -0.67 (d=4) and theta = -0.37 (d=5). These results show that the lower critical dimension, d_l (the dimension where theta changes sign), is significantly higher for m=infinity than for finite m (where 2 < d_l < 3).Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Spin glasses in the limit of an infinite number of spin components

We consider the spin glass model in which the number of spin components, m, is infinite. In the formulation of the problem appropriate for numerical calculations proposed by several authors, we show that the order parameter defined by the long-distance limit of the correlation functions is actually zero and there is only "quasi long range order" below the transition temperature. We also show that the spin glass transition temperature is zero in three dimensions.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure

Evidence for existence of many pure ground states in 3d ±J\pm J Spin Glasses

Ground states of 3d EA Ising spin glasses are calculated for sizes up to $14^3$ using a combination of genetic algorithms and cluster-exact approximation . The distribution $P(|q|)$ of overlaps is calculated. For increasing size the width of $P(|q|)$ converges to a nonzero value, indicating that many pure ground states exist for short range Ising spin glasses.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, 16 reference

On the Use of Finite-Size Scaling to Measure Spin-Glass Exponents

Finite-size scaling (FSS) is a standard technique for measuring scaling exponents in spin glasses. Here we present a critique of this approach, emphasizing the need for all length scales to be large compared to microscopic scales. In particular we show that the replacement, in FSS analyses, of the correlation length by its asymptotic scaling form can lead to apparently good scaling collapses with the wrong values of the scaling exponents.Comment: RevTeX, 5 page

Evidence for the droplet/scaling picture of spin glasses

We have studied the Parisi overlap distribution for the three dimensional Ising spin glass in the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation. For temperatures T around 0.7Tc and system sizes upto L=32, we found a P(q) as expected for the full Parisi replica symmetry breaking, just as was also observed in recent Monte Carlo simulations on a cubic lattice. However, for lower temperatures our data agree with predictions from the droplet or scaling picture. The failure to see droplet model behaviour in Monte Carlo simulations is due to the fact that all existing simulations have been done at temperatures too close to the transition temperature so that sytem sizes larger than the correlation length have not been achieved.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Low-Temperature Excitations of Dilute Lattice Spin Glasses

A new approach to exploring low-temperature excitations in finite-dimensional lattice spin glasses is proposed. By focusing on bond-diluted lattices just above the percolation threshold, large system sizes $L$ can be obtained which lead to enhanced scaling regimes and more accurate exponents. Furthermore, this method in principle remains practical for any dimension, yielding exponents that so far have been elusive. This approach is demonstrated by determining the stiffness exponent for dimensions $d=3$, $d=6$ (the upper critical dimension), and $d=7$. Key is the application of an exact reduction algorithm, which eliminates a large fraction of spins, so that the reduced lattices never exceed $\sim10^3$ variables for sizes as large as L=30 in $d=3$, L=9 in $d=6$, or L=8 in $d=7$. Finite size scaling analysis gives $y_3=0.24(1)$ for $d=3$, significantly improving on previous work. The results for $d=6$ and $d=7$, $y_6=1.1(1)$ and $y_7=1.24(5)$, are entirely new and are compared with mean-field predictions made for d>=6.Comment: 7 pages, LaTex, 7 ps-figures included, added result for stiffness in d=7, as to appear in Europhysics Letters (see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/ for related information

The Stability of the Replica Symmetric State in Finite Dimensional Spin Glasses

According to the droplet picture of spin glasses, the low-temperature phase of spin glasses should be replica symmetric. However, analysis of the stability of this state suggested that it was unstable and this instability lends support to the Parisi replica symmetry breaking picture of spin glasses. The finite-size scaling functions in the critical region of spin glasses below T_c in dimensions greater than 6 can be determined and for them the replica symmetric solution is unstable order by order in perturbation theory. Nevertheless the exact solution can be shown to be replica-symmetric. It is suggested that a similar mechanism might apply in the low-temperature phase of spin glasses in less than six dimensions, but that a replica symmetry broken state might exist in more than six dimensions.Comment: 5 pages. Modified to include a paragraph on the relation of this work to that of Newman and Stei

Finite-Size Scaling of the Domain Wall Entropy Distributions for the 2D ±J\pm J Ising Spin Glass

The statistics of domain walls for ground states of the 2D Ising spin glass with +1 and -1 bonds are studied for $L \times L$ square lattices with $L \le 48$, and $p$ = 0.5, where $p$ is the fraction of negative bonds, using periodic and/or antiperiodic boundary conditions. When $L$ is even, almost all domain walls have energy $E_{dw}$ = 0 or 4. When $L$ is odd, most domain walls have $E_{dw}$ = 2. The probability distribution of the entropy, $S_{dw}$, is found to depend strongly on $E_{dw}$. When $E_{dw} = 0$, the probability distribution of $|S_{dw}|$ is approximately exponential. The variance of this distribution is proportional to $L$, in agreement with the results of Saul and Kardar. For $E_{dw} = k > 0$ the distribution of $S_{dw}$ is not symmetric about zero. In these cases the variance still appears to be linear in $L$, but the average of $S_{dw}$ grows faster than $\sqrt{L}$. This suggests a one-parameter scaling form for the $L$-dependence of the distributions of $S_{dw}$ for $k > 0$.Comment: 13 page

Nonequilibrium critical dynamics of ferromagnetic spin systems

We use simple models (the Ising model in one and two dimensions, and the spherical model in arbitrary dimension) to put to the test some recent ideas on the slow dynamics of nonequilibrium systems. In this review the focus is on the temporal evolution of two-time quantities and on the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, with special emphasis given to nonequilibrium critical dynamics.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures.Contribution to the Proceedings of the ESF SPHINX meeting `Glassy behaviour of kinetically constrained models' (Barcelona, March 22-25, 2001). To appear in a special issue of J. Phys. Cond. Mat

Colloidal gelation and non-ergodicity transitions

Within the framework of the mode coupling theory (MCT) of structural relaxation, mechanisms and properties of non-ergodicity transitions in rather dilute suspensions of colloidal particles characterized by strong short-ranged attractions are studied. Results building on the virial expansion for particles with hard cores and interacting via an attractive square well potential are presented, and their relevance to colloidal gelation is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; Talk at the Conference: "Unifying Concepts in Glass Physics" ICTP Trieste, September 1999; to be published in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte