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Anomalously elastic intermediate phase in randomly layered superfluids, superconductors, and planar magnets
Priyanka Mohan1, Paul M Goldbart, Rajesh Narayanan
1Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.
Physical Review Letters
|September 28, 2010
Summary
Layered quenched randomness in magnets creates a novel intermediate phase. This phase exhibits unique scaling behavior in spin-wave stiffness, distinct from standard ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Statistical mechanics
Background:
- Conventional magnets exhibit distinct ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases.
- Understanding phase transitions and critical phenomena is crucial in condensed matter physics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of layered quenched randomness on magnetic phase transitions.
- To characterize the properties of the emergent intermediate phase.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of layered quenched disorder in planar magnets.
- Analysis of spin-wave stiffness and magnetization scaling behavior.
- Study of phase transitions into the anomalous elastic phase.
Main Results:
- Discovery of an unusual intermediate phase between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states.
- Anomalous scaling of spin-wave stiffness perpendicular to layers with a variable exponent.
- Finite magnetization and parallel stiffness within the intermediate (Griffiths) phase.
- Analogous phenomena observed in superfluids and superconductors.
Conclusions:
- Layered quenched randomness induces novel phases with unique scaling properties.
- The findings have implications for understanding critical phenomena in various physical systems.
- Experimental verification and exploration of finite-size effects are suggested.
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