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Updated: May 30, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Sequences of phase transitions in Ising models on correlated networks
Jörg Menche1, Angelo Valleriani, Reinhard Lipowsky
1Theory & Bio-Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany.
Abstract:
Using the generic example of Ising spins on scale-free networks, we demonstrate that degree-degree correlations can induce a large number of thermodynamically stable states in networks that otherwise exhibit only the two completely ordered states. The additional stable states are related to the layered network structure. As one increases the temperature, a cascade of first-order phase transitions is found, at which some layers of the network become disordered, while others remain ordered. Negative degree-degree correlations are found to stabilize ordered layers against thermal fluctuations. Positively correlated networks can exhibit an infinite number of ground states and phase transitions, while in negatively correlated networks both numbers are finite.
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