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Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
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Random fields at a nonequilibrium phase transition.

Hatem Barghathi1, Thomas Vojta

  • 1Department of Physics, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri 65409, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|December 11, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

We found that phase transitions in disordered systems can persist, unlike in equilibrium systems. The study details ultraslow dynamics in symmetry-broken phases using Sinai walks and Monte Carlo simulations.

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Area of Science:

  • Statistical Physics
  • Complex Systems

Background:

  • Disorder in low-dimensional systems typically prevents symmetry breaking and destroys phase transitions.
  • Random-field disorder locally breaks symmetry between macroscopic states.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the persistence of phase transitions in the presence of random-field disorder.
  • To characterize the dynamics in the symmetry-broken phase of the generalized contact process.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical analysis of nonequilibrium phase transitions.
  • Large-scale Monte Carlo simulations.
  • Modeling domain wall dynamics as a Sinai walk.

Main Results:

  • The phase transition of the one-dimensional generalized contact process persists despite random-field disorder.
  • Ultraslow dynamics in the symmetry-broken phase are governed by Sinai walks of domain walls.
  • Demonstrated the generality and limitations of the theoretical framework.

Conclusions:

  • Random-field disorder does not universally destroy phase transitions in nonequilibrium systems.
  • The generalized contact process offers a model for studying persistent transitions under disorder.
  • Sinai walks provide a framework for understanding ultraslow dynamics in such systems.