Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Behavior of the random-field XY model on simple cubic lattices at h_{r}=1.5
1382 Willowbrook Drive, North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902, USA.
Abstract:
We have performed studies of the three-dimensional random-field XY model on 32 samples of L×L×L simple cubic lattices with periodic boundary conditions, with a random field strength of h_{r} = 1.5, for L= 128, using a parallelized Monte Carlo algorithm. We present results for the sample-averaged magnetic structure factor S(k[over ⃗]) over a range of temperature, using both random hot start and ferromagnetic cold start initial states, and k[over ⃗] along the [1,0,0] and [1,1,1] directions. At T= 1.875, S(k[over ⃗]) shows a broad peak near |k[over ⃗]|=0, with a correlation length which is limited by thermal fluctuations, rather than the lattice size. As T is lowered, this peak grows and sharpens. By T= 1.5, it is clear that the correlation length is larger than L= 128. The lowest temperature for which S(k[over ⃗]) was calculated is T= 1.421875, where the hot start and cold start initial conditions usually do not find the same local minimum in the phase space. Our results are consistent with the idea that there is a finite value of T below which S(k[over ⃗]) diverges slowly as |k[over ⃗]| goes to zero. This divergence would imply that the relaxation time of the spins is also diverging. That is the signature of an ergodicity-breaking phase transition.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Lattice Centering and Coordination Number
Types of Unit Cells
Imagine taking a large number of identical...
Trends in Lattice Energy: Ion Size and Charge
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution

