Interface free energies in p-spin glass models
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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films
Published on: January 26, 2016
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The replica method is used to calculate the interface free energy associated with the change from periodic to antiperiodic boundary conditions in finite-dimensional p-spin glass models in the phase which at mean-field level has one-step replica symmetry breaking (1RSB). In any finite dimension the interface free energy is exponentially small for a large system. This result implies that, in finite dimensions, the 1RSB state does not exist, as it is destroyed by thermal excitation of arbitrarily large droplets. The implications of this for the theory of structural glasses are discussed.
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