Avalanches in a fluctuationless first-order phase transition in a random-bond Ising model

Mechanism of subcritical avalanche propagation in three-dimensional disordered systems

We present a numerical study on necessary conditions for the appearance of infinite avalanche below the critical point in disordered systems that evolve throughout metastable states. The representative of those systems is the nonequilibrium athermal random-field Ising model. We investigate the impact on propagation of infinite avalanche of both the interface of flipped spins at the avalanche's starting point and the number of independent islands of flipped spins in the system at the moment when the avalanche starts. To deduce what effects are originated due to finite system's size, and to distinguish them from the real necessary conditions for the appearance of the infinite avalanche, we examined lattices of different sizes as well as other key parameters for the avalanche propagation.

Effects of external noise on threshold-induced correlations in ferromagnetic systems

In the present paper we investigate the impact of the external noise and detection threshold level on the simulation data for the systems that evolve through metastable states. As a representative model of such systems we chose the nonequilibrium athermal random-field Ising model with two types of the external noise, uniform white noise and Gaussian white noise with various different standard deviations, imposed on the original response signal obtained in model simulations. We applied a wide range of detection threshold levels in analysis of the signal and show how these quantities affect the values of exponent γ_{S/T} (describing the scaling of the average avalanche size with duration), the shift of waiting time between the avalanches, and finally the collapses of the waiting time distributions. The results are obtained via extensive numerical simulations on the equilateral three-dimensional cubic lattices of various sizes and disorders.

Nonequilibrium athermal random-field Ising model on hexagonal lattices

We present the results of a study providing numerical evidence for the absence of critical behavior of the nonequilibrium athermal random-field Ising model in adiabatic regime on the hexagonal two-dimensional lattice. The results are obtained on the systems containing up to 32768×32768 spins and are the averages of up to 1700 runs with different random-field configurations per each value of disorder. We analyzed regular systems as well as the systems with different preset conditions to capture behavior in thermodynamic limit. The superficial insight to the avalanche propagation in this type of lattice is given as a stimulus for further research on the topic of avalanche evolution. With obtained data we may conclude that there is no critical behavior of random-field Ising model on hexagonal lattice which is a result that differs from the ones found for the square and for the triangular lattices supporting the recent conjecture that the number of nearest neighbors affects the model criticality.

Avalanche properties in striplike ferromagnetic systems

We present numerical findings on the behavior of the athermal nonequilibrium random-field Ising model of spins at the thin striplike L_{1}×L_{2}×L_{3} cubic lattices with L_{1}<L_{2}<L_{3}. Changing of system sizes highly influences the evolution and shape of avalanches. The smallest avalanches [classified as three-dimension- (3D) like] are unaffected by the system boundaries, the larger are sandwiched between the top and bottom system faces so are 2D-like, while the largest are extended over the system lateral cross section and propagate along the length L_{3} like in 1D systems. Such a structure of avalanches causes double power-law distributions of their size, duration, and energy with larger effective critical exponent corresponding to 3D-like and smaller to 2D-like avalanches. The distributions scale with thickness L_{1} and are collapsible following the proposed scaling predictions which, together with the distributions' shape, might be important for analysis of the Barkhausen noise experimental data for striplike samples. Finally, the impact of system size on external field that triggers the largest avalanche for a given disorder is presented and discussed.

Collective Dynamics and Strong Pinning near the Onset of Charge Order in La_{1.48}Nd_{0.4}Sr_{0.12}CuO_{4}

The dynamics of charge-ordered states is one of the key issues in underdoped cuprate high-temperature superconductors, but static short-range charge-order (CO) domains have been detected in almost all cuprates. We probe the dynamics across the CO (and structural) transition in La_{1.48}Nd_{0.4}Sr_{0.12}CuO_{4} by measuring nonequilibrium charge transport, or resistance R as the system responds to a change in temperature and to an applied magnetic field. We find evidence for metastable states, collective behavior, and criticality. The collective dynamics in the critical regime indicates strong pinning by disorder. Surprisingly, nonequilibrium effects, such as avalanches in R, are revealed only when the critical region is approached from the charge-ordered phase. Our results on La_{1.48}Nd_{0.4}Sr_{0.12}CuO_{4} provide the long-sought evidence for the fluctuating order across the CO transition, and also set important constraints on theories of dynamic stripes.

Shear-induced rigidity in athermal materials: A unified statistical framework

Recent studies of athermal systems such as dry grains and dense, non-Brownian suspensions have shown that shear can lead to solidification through the process of shear jamming in grains and discontinuous shear thickening in suspensions. The similarities observed between these two distinct phenomena suggest that the physical processes leading to shear-induced rigidity in athermal materials are universal. We present a nonequilibrium statistical mechanics model, which exhibits the phenomenology of these shear-driven transitions, shear jamming and discontinuous shear thickening, in different regions of the predicted phase diagram. Our analysis identifies the crucial physical processes underlying shear-driven rigidity transitions, and clarifies the distinct roles played by shearing forces and the packing fraction of grains.

Boolean decision problems with competing interactions on scale-free networks: equilibrium and nonequilibrium behavior in an external bias

We study the equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties of Boolean decision problems with competing interactions on scale-free networks in an external bias (magnetic field). Previous studies at zero field have shown a remarkable equilibrium stability of Boolean variables (Ising spins) with competing interactions (spin glasses) on scale-free networks. When the exponent that describes the power-law decay of the connectivity of the network is strictly larger than 3, the system undergoes a spin-glass transition. However, when the exponent is equal to or less than 3, the glass phase is stable for all temperatures. First, we perform finite-temperature Monte Carlo simulations in a field to test the robustness of the spin-glass phase and show that the system has a spin-glass phase in a field, i.e., exhibits a de Almeida-Thouless line. Furthermore, we study avalanche distributions when the system is driven by a field at zero temperature to test if the system displays self-organized criticality. Numerical results suggest that avalanches (damage) can spread across the whole system with nonzero probability when the decay exponent of the interaction degree is less than or equal to 2, i.e., that Boolean decision problems on scale-free networks with competing interactions can be fragile when not in thermal equilibrium.

Self-organized criticality in glassy spin systems requires a diverging number of neighbors

We investigate the conditions required for general spin systems with frustration and disorder to display self-organized criticality, a property which so far has been established only for the fully connected infinite-range Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Ising spin-glass model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 1034 (1999)]. Here, we study both avalanche and magnetization jump distributions triggered by an external magnetic field, as well as internal field distributions in the short-range Edwards-Anderson Ising spin glass for various space dimensions between 2 and 8, as well as the fixed-connectivity mean-field Viana-Bray model. Our numerical results, obtained on systems of unprecedented size, demonstrate that self-organized criticality is recovered only in the strict limit of a diverging number of neighbors and is not a generic property of spin-glass models in finite space dimensions.

Deep spin-glass hysteresis-area collapse and scaling in the three-dimensional ±J Ising model

We investigate the dissipative loss in the ±J Ising spin glass in three dimensions through the scaling of the hysteresis area, for a maximum magnetic field that is equal to the saturation field. We perform a systematic analysis for the whole range of the bond randomness as a function of the sweep rate by means of frustration-preserving hard-spin mean-field theory. Data collapse within the entirety of the spin-glass phase driven adiabatically (i.e., infinitely slow field variation) is found, revealing a power-law scaling of the hysteresis area as a function of the antiferromagnetic bond fraction and the temperature. Two dynamic regimes separated by a threshold frequency ω(c) characterize the dependence on the sweep rate of the oscillating field. For ω<ω(c), the hysteresis area is equal to its value in the adiabatic limit ω=0, while for ω>ω(c) it increases with the frequency through another randomness-dependent power law.

Nonconverging hysteresis cycles in random spin networks

Behavior of hysteretic trajectories for cyclical input is investigated as a function of the internal structure of a system modeled by the classical random network of binary spins. Different regimes of hysteretic behavior are discovered for different network connectivity and topology. Surprisingly, hysteretic trajectories which do not converge at all are observed. They are shown to be associated with the presence of specific topological elements in the network structure, particularly with the fully interconnected spin groups of size equal to or greater than 4.

Hysteresis and magnetization jumps in the T=0 dynamics of spin glasses

We present results from Monte Carlo simulations of hysteresis in the zero-temperature ( T=0 ) dynamics of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick spin glass model. We study the statistics of magnetization-jumps (denoted as Deltam ) in response to a time-dependent magnetic field H (t) , which increases or decreases with constant increments Delta as H(t)-->H(t)+/-Delta . In particular, we focus on the field dependence of the Deltam -distribution function P(Deltam,H) . We formulate arguments to understand the variation of P ( Deltam,H ) along the hysteresis loop in the weak-disorder limit.

Phase transitions in a disordered system in and out of equilibrium

The equilibrium and nonequilibrium disorder-induced phase transitions are compared in the random-field Ising model. We identify in the demagnetized state the correct nonequilibrium hysteretic counterpart of the T=0 ground state, and present evidence of universality. Numerical simulations in d=3 indicate that exponents and scaling functions coincide, while the location of the critical point differs, as corroborated by exact results for the Bethe lattice. These results are of relevance for optimization, and for the generic question of universality in the presence of disorder.

Return to return point memory

We describe a new class of systems exhibiting return point memory (RPM), different from those discussed before in the context of ferromagnets. We show numerically that one-dimensional random Ising antiferromagnets have exact RPM when evolving from a large field, but not when started at finite field, unlike the ferromagnetic case. This implies that the standard approach to understanding ferromagnetic RPM will fail for this case. We also demonstrate RPM with a set of variables that keeps track of spin flips at each site. Conventional RPM for the spins is a projection of this result, suggesting that spin flip variables might be a more fundamental representation of the dynamics. We also present a mapping that embeds the antiferromagnetic chain in a two-dimensional ferromagnet, and prove RPM for spin-exchange dynamics in the interior of the chain with this mapping.

Acoustic emission and shape memory effect in the martensitic transformation

Acoustic emission signals are known to exhibit a high degree of reproducibility in time and show correlations with the growth and shrinkage of martensite domains when athermal martensites are subjected to repeated thermal cycling in a restricted temperature range. We show that a recently introduced two dimensional model for the martensitic transformation mimics these features. We also show that these features are related to the shape memory effect where near full reversal of morphological features are seen under these thermal cycling conditions.

Universality of dynamic scaling for avalanches in disordered Ising systems

Dynamic scaling for driven disordered systems is investigated in some disordered Ising models. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we find that avalanches in both random-field and random-bond Ising models follow dynamic power-law scaling in short times, and the scaling relations are universal for the systems studied. The probability distribution of the dynamic scaling exponent theta is found to have two peaks centered at theta(1) and theta(2). The short-time dynamic exponent theta(1) is invariant and universal for all avalanches while the exponent theta(2) depends on the strength of disorder. The analytical result for the early stage evolution of breakdown process in the random-field Ising model is obtained using mean-field approximation. Short-time dynamic scaling is also confirmed.

Capillary condensation in disordered porous materials: hysteresis versus equilibrium behavior

We study the interplay between hysteresis and equilibrium behavior in capillary condensation of fluids in mesoporous disordered materials via a mean-field density functional theory of a disordered lattice-gas model. The approach reproduces all major features observed experimentally. We show that the simple van der Waals picture of metastability fails due to the appearance of a complex free-energy landscape with a large number of metastable states. In particular, hysteresis can occur both with and without an underlying equilibrium transition, and thermodynamic consistency is not satisfied along the hysteresis loop.

Power-law statistics for avalanches in a martensitic transformation

We devise a two-dimensional model that mimics the recently observed power-law distributions for the amplitudes and durations of the acoustic emission signals observed during martensitic transformation [Vives et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 1694 (1994)]. We include a threshold mechanism, long-range interaction between the transformed domains, inertial effects, and dissipation arising due to the motion of the interface. The model exhibits thermal hysteresis and, more importantly, it shows that the energy is released in the form of avalanches with power-law distributions for their amplitudes and durations. Computer simulations also reveal morphological features similar to those observed in real systems.

Studying avalanches in the ground state of the two-dimensional random-field ising model driven by an external field

We study the exact ground state of the two-dimensional random-field Ising model as a function of both the external applied field B and the standard deviation sigma of the Gaussian random-field distribution. The equilibrium evolution of the magnetization consists in a sequence of discrete jumps. These are very similar to the avalanche behavior found in the out-of-equilibrium version of the same model with local relaxation dynamics. We compare the statistical distributions of magnetization jumps and find that both exhibit power-law behavior for the same value of sigma. The corresponding exponents are compared.

Barkhausen avalanches in anisotropic ferromagnets with 180 degrees domain walls

We show that Barkhausen noise in two-dimensional disordered ferromagnets with extended domain walls is characterized by the avalanche size exponent tau(s)=1.54 at low disorder. With increasing disorder the characteristic domain size is reduced relative to the system size due to nucleation of new domains and a dynamic phase transition occurs to the scaling behavior with tau(s)=1.30. The exponents decrease at finite driving rate. The results agree with recently observed behavior in amorphous Metglas and Fe-Co-B ribbons when the applied anisotropic stress is varied.