arXiv subjects

Giorgio Parisi

Publications and source records attributed to Giorgio Parisi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On the true low-energy excitations of the three-dimensional spin glass

We study the low-energy excitations of the three dimensional spin glass through a large-scale Monte Carlo simulation on lattices up to $L=18$. We find smooth extrapolations down to zero temperature, which, in the case of the energy and of the link overlap, can be directly -- and favourably -- compared with previous investigations featuring ground states (i.e., at zero temperature). The best fit for the fractal dimension of the excitations is provided by Replica-Symmetry Breaking theory, but we also consider the alternative TNT description. The $P(q)$ is found to verify the Parisi-Toulouse temperature scaling. Our data provides a spectacular confirmation of the overlap-equivalence hypothesis.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2026

A proof of an identity for the critical exponents of jamming

Within the full replica-symmetry-breaking (fullRSB) solution of dense hard spheres in infinite dimension, Charbonneau, Kurchan, Parisi, Urbani, and Zamponi (CKPUZ; J.Stat.Mech.P10009, 2014) introduced three critical exponents $a$, $b$, $c$ governing the matching region of the fullRSB profile near the jamming transition. These exponents satisfy two scaling relations. The first, $b=(1+c)/2$, was established analytically by the diffusion-drift balance in the scaling ansatz. The second, $a+b=1$, was observed numerically to arbitrary precision but could not be proven. The exponents $a,b,c$ of the scaling fullRSB ansatz are related to the physical exponents $\alpha, \theta, \kappa$ that control the gap, force, and overlap distributions by the relations $\alpha=a/b$, $\theta=(c-a)/(b-c)$, $\kappa=c+1$. Crucially, the relation $a+b=1$ yields the scaling relations $\alpha=1/(2+\theta)$ and $\kappa=2-2/(3+\theta)$ predicted on independent grounds by the mechanical-marginal-stability arguments of Wyart and collaborators. Here, we give an analytic proof of the identity $a+b=1$ from the scaling fullRSB equations. The proof was obtained through interaction with Claude (Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.7) and verified by us.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Cluster moves with an entropic reservoir accelerate low-temperature simulations of three-dimensional spin glasses

We present an algorithm for the simulation of three-dimensional spin glasses deep in the low-temperature phase: Parallel Tempering enhanced with Houdayer moves and with an entropic reservoir (PTHR). Although differences with the standard Houdayer algorithm are small, PTHR allows us to equilibrate a large number of samples of $L=16$ lattices with Gaussian couplings for temperatures $T\geq 0.2$. We show that the computational complexity displays better size scaling than standard Parallel Tempering. For finite sizes, our method outperforms other cluster algorithms by a speedup factor of around 64. In close analogy with standard Parallel Tempering, PTHR's computational complexity strongly relates to temperature chaos.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2026

Observation of associative-memory retrieval and spin-glass phases on a photonic quantum simulator

Models of interacting complex systems provide the fundamental statistical physics reference frame for the study and the understanding of associative memories, machine learning, and the dynamics of neural networks. On the other hand, simulating complex multi-synaptic interactions on a classical hardware is computationally demanding due to the super-linear scaling of the system complexity. Photonic quantum technologies provide a promising solution to these limitations by leveraging on their inherent speed and parallel processing ability in order to simulate complex networks. Recently, a connection between multiphoton processes and generalized $p$-body Hopfield models has been theoretically established. Here, we design and demonstrate an experimental platform that exploits single photons distributed across a set of optical modes, in which controlled arrays of binary phase shifters act as Ising-like neurons. We focus specifically on a fully connected Hopfield Hamiltonian with four-body local interaction terms, realized via two-photon processes. Through quantum simulations on programmable photonic processors, the study identifies three distinct regimes: a memory retrieval phase, a spin-glass memory "black-out" phase, and a paramagnetic phase. Experimental results confirm successful memory retrieval at low storage capacities and temperatures, where the system consistently relaxes to fixed points with high memory overlap, effectively reconstructing the stored patterns. Future research will extend the platform design to investigate networks with local or dilute interactions, while advances in the realization of scalable photonic circuits will enable architectures that encompass very large numbers of interacting spins.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Multipartite entanglement of random states of qubits

We investigate multipartite entanglement via the statistical properties of pure quantum states of n-qubits. By analyzing the distribution of purity among balanced bipartitions, we compare Haar-typical states, uniformly distributed on the unit sphere of states, with Hadamard states, being characterized by equal weights in the computational basis. We analyze different ensembles of Hadamard states characterized by their phase distributions. Through analytical and numerical calculations, we show that Hadamard states exhibit, on average, a higher degree of entanglement than Haar-typical states. In addition, we show that a particular class of Hadamard states, characterized by real coefficients with alternating signs, known as hypergraph states, appears especially relevant in the search for maximally multipartite entangled states, both for their structural simplicity and the increased likelihood of sampling highly entangled states. These results identify Hadamard states as a tractable yet promising class for exploring multipartite entanglement structures and advancing the characterization of maximally multipartite entangled quantum states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Overlap locking and non-perturbative effects in spin glasses

We study the phenomenon of the locking of the order parameter (or synchronization) in spin glasses at low temperatures. When two systems with independent disorders are coupled, their overlaps become similar. A crucial question is how this effect depends on the strength of the coupling between the two systems. Non-perturbative phenomena are present when $1 \ll \Delta H \ll N$, being $\Delta H$ the coupling Hamiltonian and $N$ the size of the system. In this intermediate-coupling region, the effect is related to finite-size free-energy corrections and to the correlations in the Dyson hierarchical spin glass, a model that mimics the physics of finite-dimensional systems. We study this phenomenon in the mean-field approach, both analytically and numerically, and we finally compute the critical exponents for finite-volume corrections in mean-field theory and for the decay of correlations in the Dyson hierarchical model.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2026

Long-range spin glass in a field at zero temperature

We compute the critical exponents of the zero-temperature spin glass transition in a field on a one-dimensional long-range model, a proxy for higher-dimensional systems. Our approach is based on a novel loop expansion within the Bethe $M$-layer formalism, whose adaptation to this specific case is detailed here. The resulting estimates provide crucial benchmarks for numerical simulations that can access larger system sizes in one dimension, thus offering a key test of the theory of spin glasses in a field.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2026

Low energy excitations in a long prism geometry: testing the lower critical dimension of the Ising spin glass

We propose a general method for studying systems that display low-energy excitations in their low-temperature phase. We argue that in a rectangular right-prism geometry (the 3-dimensional generalization of a strip), with one longitudinal size much larger than the transverse size, correlations decay exponentially (at all temperatures) along the longitudinal direction. Still, the scaling of the correlation length with the transverse size carries crucial information from which the lower critical dimension can be inferred. The method is applied in the particularly demanding context of Ising spin glasses at zero magnetic field. The lower critical dimension and the multifractal spectrum for the correlation functions are computed from large-scale numerical simulations. Several technical novelties (such as the unexpectedly crucial performance of Houdayer's cluster method or the convenience of using open---rather than periodic---boundary conditions) allow us to study three-dimensional prisms with transverse dimensions up to $L=24$ and effectively infinite longitudinal dimensions, down to low temperatures. The value that we find for the exponent controlling the behavior of the correlation length agrees with predictions from the Replica Symmetry Breaking (RSB) theory. We argue that our novel setting holds promise in clarifying which of the two competing theories, RSB or the Droplet Model, more accurately describes three-dimensional spin glasses.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2025

From Bjorken Scaling to Scaling Violations

This paper traces the historical and conceptual journey from Bjorken scaling to the discovery of scaling violations in deep inelastic scattering, culminating in the development of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Beginning with the challenges faced by early strong interaction theories in the 1950s, we explore the emergence of agnostic approaches such as the bootstrap philosophy and current algebra, which sought to describe hadronic phenomena without relying on specific field theories. The pivotal role of experimental results from SLAC in the late 1960s is highlighted, leading to Bjorken's proposal of scaling in deep inelastic scattering and Feynman's parton model. We then delve into the theoretical breakthroughs of the 1970s, including Wilson's operator product expansion and the renormalization group, which provided the framework for understanding scaling violations. The discovery of asymptotic freedom in non-Abelian gauge theories by Gross, Wilczek, and Politzer marked a turning point, establishing QCD as the theory of strong interactions. Finally, we discuss the formulation of the Altarelli-Parisi equations, which elegantly describe the evolution of parton distribution functions and scaling violations, and their profound impact on the study of hard processes in particle physics. This paper not only recounts the key developments but also reflects on the interplay between theory and experiment that drove the field forward.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2025

Critical exponents of the spin glass transition in a field at zero temperature

We analyze the spin glass transition in a field in finite dimension $D$ below the upper critical dimension directly at zero temperature using a recently introduced perturbative loop expansion around the Bethe lattice solution. The expansion is generated by the so-called $M$-layer construction, and it has $1/M$ as the associated small parameter. Computing analytically and numerically these non-standard diagrams at first order in the $1/M$ expansion, we construct an $\epsilon$-expansion around the upper critical dimension $D_\text{uc}=8$, with $\epsilon=D_\text{uc}-D$. Following standard field theoretical methods, we can write a $\beta$ function, finding a new zero-temperature fixed-point associated with the spin glass transition in a field in dimensions $D<8$. We are also able to compute, at first order in the $\epsilon$-expansion, the three independent critical exponents characterizing the transition, plus the correction-to-scaling exponent.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2024

Soft modes in vector spin glass models on sparse random graphs

We study numerically the Hessian of low-lying minima of vector spin glass models defined on random regular graphs. We consider the two-component (XY) and three-component (Heisenberg) spin glasses at zero temperature, subjected to the action of a randomly oriented external field. Varying the intensity of the external field, these models undergo a zero temperature phase transition from a paramagnet at high field to a spin glass at low field. We study how the spectral properties of the Hessian depend on the magnetic field. In particular, we study the shape of the spectrum at low frequency and the localization properties of low energy eigenvectors across the transition. We find that in both phases the edge of the spectral density behaves as $\lambda^{3/2}$: such a behavior rules out the presence of a diverging spin-glass susceptibility $\chi_{SG}=\langle 1/\lambda^2 \rangle$. As to low energy eigenvectors, we find that the softest eigenmodes are always localized in both phases of the two models. However, by studying in detail the geometry of low energy eigenmodes across different energy scales close to the lower edge of the spectrum, we find a different behavior for the two models at the transition: in the XY case, low energy modes are typically localized; at variance, in the Heisenberg case low-energy eigenmodes with a multi-modal structure (sort of ``delocalization'') appear at an energy scale that vanishes in the infinite size limit. These geometrically non-trivial excitations, which we call Concentrated and Delocalised Low Energy Modes (CDLEM), coexist with trivially localised excitations: we interpret their existence as a sign of critical behavior related to the onset of the spin glass phase.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2024

Small field chaos in spin glasses: universal predictions from the ultrametric tree and comparison with numerical simulations

We study the chaotic behavior of the Gibbs state of spin-glasses under the application of an external magnetic field, in the crossover region where the field intensity scales proportional to $1/\sqrt{N}$, being $N$ the system size. We show that Replica Symmetry Breaking (RSB) theory provides universal predictions for chaotic behavior: they depend only on the zero-field overlap probability function $P(q)$ and are independent of other features of the system. Using solely $P(q)$ as input we can analytically predict quantitatively the statistics of the states in a small field. In the infinite volume limit, each spin-glass sample is characterized by an infinite number of states that have a tree-like structure. We generate the corresponding probability distribution through efficient sampling using a representation based on the Bolthausen-Sznitman coalescent. In this way, we can compute quantitatively properties in the presence of a magnetic field in the crossover region, the overlap probability distribution in the presence of a small field and the degree of decorrelation as the field is increased. To test our computations, we have simulated the Bethe lattice spin glass and the 4D Edwards-Anderson model, finding in both cases excellent agreement with the universal predictions.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2024

Bethe $M$-layer construction on the Ising model

In statistical physics, one of the standard methods to study second order phase transitions is the renormalization group that usually leads to an expansion around the corresponding fully connected solution. Unfortunately, often in disordered models, some important finite dimensional second-order phase transitions are qualitatively different or absent in the corresponding fully connected model: in such cases the standard expansion fails. Recently, a new method, the $M$-layer one, has been introduced that performs an expansion around a different soluble mean field model: the Bethe lattice one. This new method has been already used to compute the upper critical dimension $D_U$ of different disordered systems such as the Random Field Ising model or the Spin glass model with field. If then one wants to go beyond and construct an expansion around $D_U$ to understand how critical quantities get renormalized, the actual computation of all the numerical factors is needed. This next step has still not been performed, being technically more involved. In this paper we perform this computation for the ferromagnetic Ising model without quenched disorder, in finite dimensions: we show that, at one-loop order inside the $M$-layer approach, we recover the continuum quartic field theory and we are able to identify the coupling constant $g$ and the other parameters of the theory, as a function of macroscopic and microscopic details of the model such as the lattice spacing, the physical lattice dimension and the temperature. This is a fundamental step that will help in applying in the future the same techniques to more complicated systems, for which the standard field theoretical approach is impracticable.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

The QISG suite: high-performance codes for studying Quantum Ising Spin Glasses

We release a set of GPU programs for the study of the Quantum ($S=1/2$) Spin Glass on a square lattice, with binary couplings. The library contains two main codes: MCQSG (that carries out Monte Carlo simulations using both the Metropolis and the Parallel Tempering algorithms, for the problem formulated in the Trotter-Suzuki approximation), and EDQSG (that obtains the extremal eigenvalues of the Transfer Matrix using the Lanczos algorithm). EDQSG has allowed us to diagonalize transfer matrices with size up to $2^{36}\times2^{36}$. From its side, MCQSG running on four NVIDIA A100 cards delivers a sub-picosecond time per spin-update, a performance that is competitive with dedicated hardware. We include as well in our library GPU programs for the analysis of the spin configurations generated by MCQSG. Finally, we provide two auxiliary codes: the first generates the lookup tables employed by the random number generator of MCQSG; the second one simplifies the execution of multiple runs using different input data.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2023

Finite-size scaling of the random-field Ising model above the upper critical dimension

Finite-size scaling above the upper critical dimension is a long-standing puzzle in the field of Statistical Physics. Even for pure systems various scaling theories have been suggested, partially corroborated by numerical simulations. In the present manuscript we address this problem in the even more complicated case of disordered systems. In particular, we investigate the scaling behavior of the random-field Ising model at dimension $D = 7$, i.e., above its upper critical dimension $D_{\rm u} = 6$, by employing extensive ground-state numerical simulations. Our results confirm the hypothesis that at dimensions $D > D_{\rm u}$, linear length scale $L$ should be replaced in finite-size scaling expressions by the effective scale $L_{\rm eff} = L^{D / D_{\rm u}}$. Via a fitted version of the quotients method that takes this modification, but also subleading scaling corrections into account, we compute the critical point of the transition for Gaussian random fields and provide estimates for the full set of critical exponents. Thus, our analysis indicates that this modified version of finite-size scaling is successful also in the context of the random-field problem.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Loop expansion around the Bethe approximation through the $M$-layer construction

For every physical model defined on a generic graph or factor graph, the Bethe $M$-layer construction allows building a different model for which the Bethe approximation is exact in the large $M$ limit and it coincides with the original model for $M=1$. The $1/M$ perturbative series is then expressed by a diagrammatic loop expansion in terms of so-called fat-diagrams. Our motivation is to study some important second-order phase transitions that do exist on the Bethe lattice but are either qualitatively different or absent in the corresponding fully connected case. In this case the standard approach based on a perturbative expansion around the naive mean field theory (essentially a fully connected model) fails. On physical grounds, we expect that when the construction is applied to a lattice in finite dimension there is a small region of the external parameters close to the Bethe critical point where strong deviations from mean-field behavior will be observed. In this region, the $1/M$ expansion for the corrections diverges and it can be the starting point for determining the correct non-mean-field critical exponents using renormalization group arguments. In the end, we will show that the critical series for the generic observable can be expressed as a sum of Feynman diagrams with the same numerical prefactors of field theories. However, the contribution of a given diagram is not evaluated associating Gaussian propagators to its lines as in field theories: one has to consider the graph as a portion of the original lattice, replacing the internal lines with appropriate one-dimensional chains, and attaching to the internal points the appropriate number of infinite-size Bethe trees to restore the correct local connectivity of the original model.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2023

The Quantum Transition of the Two-Dimensional Ising Spin Glass: A Tale of Two Gaps

Quantum annealers are commercial devices aiming to solve very hard computational problems named spin glasses. Just like in metallurgic annealing one slowly cools a ferrous metal, quantum annealers seek good solutions by slowly removing the transverse magnetic field at the lowest possible temperature. The field removal diminishes quantum fluctuations but forces the system to traverse the critical point that separates the disordered phase (at large fields) from the spin-glass phase (at small fields). A full understanding of this phase transition is still missing. A debated, crucial question regards the closing of the energy gap separating the ground state from the first excited state. All hopes of achieving an exponential speed-up, as compared to classical computers, rest on the assumption that the gap will close algebraically with the number of qspins, but renormalization group calculations predict that the closing will be instead exponential. Here we solve this debate through extreme-scale numerical simulations, finding that both parties grasped parts of the truth. While the closing of the gap at the critical point is indeed super-algebraic, it remains algebraic if one restricts the symmetry of possible excitations. Since this symmetry restriction is experimentally achievable (at least nominally), there is still hope for the Quantum Annealing paradigm.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2023

Hard-Sphere Jamming through the Lens of Linear Optimization

The jamming transition is ubiquitous. It is present in granular matter, colloids, glasses, and many other systems. Yet, it defines a critical point whose properties still need to be fully understood. A major breakthrough came about when the replica formalism was extended to build a mean-field theory that provides an exact description of the jamming transition of spherical particles in the infinite-dimensional limit. While such theory explains the jamming critical behavior of both soft and hard spheres, investigating the transition in finite-dimensional systems poses very difficult and different problems, in particular from the numerical point of view. Soft particles are modeled by continuous potentials; thus, their jamming point can be reached through efficient energy minimization algorithms. In contrast, the latter methods are inapplicable to hard-sphere (HS) systems since the interaction energy among the particles is always zero by construction. To overcome these difficulties, here we recast the jamming of hard spheres as a constrained optimization problem and introduce the CALiPPSO algorithm, capable of readily producing jammed HS packings without including any effective potential. This algorithm brings a HS configuration of arbitrary dimensions to its jamming point by solving a chain of linear optimization problems. We show that there is a strict correspondence between the force balance conditions of jammed packings and the properties of the optimal solutions of CALiPPSO, whence we prove analytically that our packings are always isostatic and in mechanical equilibrium. Furthermore, using extensive numerical simulations, we show that our algorithm is able to probe the complex structure of the free-energy landscape, finding qualitative agreement with mean-field predictions. We also characterize the algorithmic complexity of CALiPPSO and provide an open-source implementation of it.

cond-mat.soft↗