Scaling and universality of inherent structure simulations

In this paper we explore the inherent structures (IS) approach to the dynamics of the East constrained kinetic Ising model. The inherent structures do not capture the nature of the dynamics of many quantities, including the spin autocorrelation function. Simply monitoring the quenched energy fluctuations, i.e., IS energy, results in an oversimplified single order-parameter description of the system's dynamics, but examining other features, such as domain dynamics or normal modes, may give a more complete and useful picture of the dynamics. The universality in the behavior of the IS energy of this model does not reveal nonuniversal features of the kinetics that determine long-time relaxation of the system. As a result, popular functional forms, such as the stretched exponential relaxation or Gaussian distribution of energies, may be a numerical fit to data with little physical justification. Filtering data can be shown to erase features of the system and the resulting quantities resemble more universal functional forms that lack physical insight. These results for the East model have implications for IS simulations of realistic systems and suggest careful analysis including the examination of other potential order parameters is necessary to evaluate the validity of applications of universal and scaling arguments to IS simulations.