arXiv · 2410.20610
Critical Droplets and Replica Symmetry Breaking
Abstract
We show that the notion of critical droplets is central to an understanding of the nature of ground states in the Edwards-Anderson Ising model of a spin glass in arbitrary dimension. Given a specific ground state, suppose the coupling value for a given edge is varied with all other couplings held fixed. Beyond some specific value of the coupling, a droplet will flip leading to a new ground state; we refer to this as the critical droplet for that edge and ground state. We show that the distribution of sizes and energies over all edges for a specific ground state can be used to determine which of the leading scenarios for the spin glass phase is correct. In particular, the existence of low-energy interfaces between incongruent ground states as predicted by replica symmetry breaking is equivalent to the presence of critical droplets whose boundaries comprise a positive fraction of edges in the infinite lattice.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
C. M. Newman, D. L. Stein. 2024-10-27. Critical Droplets and Replica Symmetry Breaking. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2024.1473378
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.