Ordering Temperatures and Critical Exponents in Ising Spin Glasses

Dynamical critical behavior on the Nishimori point of frustrated Ising models

By considering the quench dynamics of two-dimensional frustrated Ising models through numerical simulations, we investigate the dynamical critical behavior on the multicritical Nishimori point (NP). We calculate several dynamical critical exponents, namely, the relaxation exponent z_{c}, the autocorrelation exponent λ_{c}, and the persistence exponent θ_{c}, after a quench from the high temperature phase to the NP. We confirm their universality with respect to the lattice geometry and bond distribution. For a quench from a power-law correlated initial state to the NP, the aging dynamics are much slower. We also look up the issue of multifractality during the critical dynamics by investigating different moments of the spatial correlation function. We observe a single growth law for all the length scales extracted from different moments, indicating that the equilibrium multifractality at the NP does not affect the dynamics.

Criticality of the O(2) model with cubic anisotropies from nonperturbative renormalization

We study the O(2) model with Z_{4}-symmetric perturbations within the framework of the nonperturbative renormalization group (RG) for spatial dimensionality d=2 and 3. In a unified framework we resolve the relatively complex crossover behavior emergent due to the presence of multiple RG fixed points. In d=3 the system is controlled by the XY, Ising, and low-T fixed points in the presence of a dangerously irrelevant anisotropy coupling λ. In d=2 the anisotropy coupling is marginal and the physical picture is governed by the interplay between two distinct lines of RG fixed points, giving rise to nonuniversal critical behavior, and an isolated Ising fixed point. In addition to inducing crossover behavior in universal properties, the presence of the Ising fixed point yields a generic, abrupt change of critical temperature at a specific value of the anisotropy field.

Critical behavior of the three-dimensional Ising model with anisotropic bond randomness at the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition line

We study the ±J three-dimensional (3D) Ising model with a spatially uniaxial anisotropic bond randomness on the simple cubic lattice. The ±J random exchange is applied on the xy planes, whereas, in the z direction, only a ferromagnetic exchange is used. After sketching the phase diagram and comparing it with the corresponding isotropic case, the system is studied at the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition line using parallel tempering and a convenient concentration of antiferromagnetic bonds (p(z)=0;p(xy)=0.176). The numerical data clearly point out a second-order ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition belonging in the same universality class with the 3D random Ising model. The smooth finite-size behavior of the effective exponents, describing the peaks of the logarithmic derivatives of the order parameter, provides an accurate estimate of the critical exponent 1/ν=1.463(3), and a collapse analysis of magnetization data gives an estimate of β/ν=0.516(7). These results are in agreement with previous papers and, in particular, with those of the isotropic ±J three-dimensional Ising model at the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition line, indicating the irrelevance of the introduced anisotropy.

Dielectric investigation of the temperature dependence of the nonexponentiality of the dynamics of polymer melts

Using broad band dielectric spectroscopy (10(-5)-10(9) Hz), combining time domain and frequency domain techniques, we study the temperature dependence of the non-Debye character of the alpha relaxation of polymer melts in the glass transition temperature T(g) range. The alpha relaxation process is described in terms of the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts relaxation function which has a single parameter beta to characterize the nonexponentiality of the relaxation. At high temperatures, beta remains nearly insensitive to temperature changes, whereas in the vicinity of T(g) a nearly linear increasing of beta with temperature is found. The temperature range where the change of the beta(T) behavior occurs is located for all the polymers investigated around 1.2T(g). Moreover, our results indicate a common value of beta approximately equal to 1/3 at the temperature where the relaxation time diverges. The beta(T) behavior near T(g) is discussed in terms of a "rugged landscape" phase space which allows us to rationalize both the beta(T) behavior observed as well as the similarities of our findings near T(g) with the results reported in simulations on Ising spin glasses and other model systems.