On the dynamics of a spherical spin-glass in a magnetic field

Scaling of the linear response in simple aging systems without disorder

The time-dependent scaling of the thermoremanent and zero-field-cooled susceptibilities in ferromagnetic spin systems undergoing aging after a quench to a temperature at or below criticality is studied. A recent debate on their interpretation is resolved by showing that for systems with a short-ranged equilibrium spin-spin correlator and above their roughening temperature, the field-cooled susceptibility chi(FC)(t)-chi(0) approximately t(-A), where chi(0) is related to the equilibrium magnetization and the exponent A is related to the time-dependent scaling of the interface width between ordered domains. The same effect also dominates the scaling of the zero-field-cooled susceptibility chi(ZFC)(t,s), but does not enter into the thermoremanent susceptibility rho(TRM)(t,s). However, there may be large finite-time corrections to the scaling of rho(TRM)(t,s) which are explicitly derived and may be needed in order to extract reliable aging exponents. Consistency with the predictions of local scale invariance is confirmed in the Glauber-Ising and spherical models.

Nonlinear response of the trap model in the aging regime: exact results in the strong-disorder limit

We study the dynamics in the one-dimensional disordered trap model with a broad distribution of trapping times p(tau) approximately 1/tau(1+mu), when an external force is applied from the very beginning at t=0, or only after a waiting time t(w), in the linear as well as in the nonlinear response regime. Using a real-space renormalization procedure that becomes exact in the limit of strong disorder mu-->0, we obtain explicit results for many observables, such as the diffusion front, the mean position, the thermal width, the localization parameters and the two-particle correlation function. In particular, the scaling functions for these observables give access to the complete interpolation between the unbiased case and the directed case. Finally, we discuss in detail the various regimes that exist for the average position in terms of the two times and the external field.

Dynamic heterogeneities in the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of simple spherical spin models

The response of spherical two-spin interaction models, the spherical ferromagnet (s-FM) and the spherical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (s-SK) model, is calculated for the protocol of the so-called nonresonant hole burning (NHB) experiment for temperatures below the respective critical temperatures. It is shown that it is possible to select dynamic features in the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of both models, one of the hallmarks of dynamic heterogeneities. The behavior of the s-SK model and the s-FM model in three dimensions is very similar, showing dynamic heterogeneities in the long-time behavior, i.e., in the aging regime. The appearance of dynamic heterogeneities in the s-SK model explicitly demonstrates that these are not necessarily related to spatial heterogeneities. For the s-FM model, it is shown that the nature of the dynamic heterogeneities changes as a function of dimensionality. With the increasing dimension, the frequency selectivity of the NHB diminishes and the dynamics in the mean-field limit of the s-FM model becomes homogeneous.

Linear and nonlinear response in the aging regime of the one-dimensional trap model

We investigate the behavior of the response function in the one-dimensional trap model using scaling arguments that we confirm by numerical simulations. We study the average position of the random walk at time t(w)+t, given that a small bias h is applied at time t(w). Several scaling regimes are found, depending on the relative values of t, t(w), and h. Comparison with the diffusive motion in the absence of bias allows us to show that the fluctuation-dissipation relation is valid even in the aging regime, at least for times such that linear response is obeyed. However, for sufficiently long times, the response always becomes nonlinear in h.

Glassy systems under time-dependent driving forces: application to slow granular rheology

We study the dynamics of a glassy model with infinite range interactions externally driven by an oscillatory force. We find a well-defined transition in the (temperature-amplitude-frequency) phase diagram between (i) a "glassy" state characterized by the slow relaxation of one-time quantities, aging in two-time quantities and a modification of the equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation; and (ii) a "liquid" state with a finite relaxation time. In the glassy phase, the degrees of freedom governing the slow relaxation are thermalized to an effective temperature. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the effect of trapping regions in phase space on the driven dynamics. We find that it alternates between periods of rapid motion and periods of trapping. These results confirm the strong analogies between the slow granular rheology and the dynamics of glasses. They also provide a theoretical underpinning to earlier attempts to present a thermodynamic description of moderately driven granular materials.