Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 1399 (1975) - Random-Field Instability of the Ordered State of Continuous Symmetry

Random-Field Instability of the Ordered State of Continuous Symmetry

Yoseph Imry and Shang-keng Ma

Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 1399 – Published 24 November 1975

Abstract

We consider phase transitions in systems where the field conjugate to the order parameter is static and random. It is demonstrated that when the order parameter has a continuous symmetry, the ordered state is unstable against an arbitrarily weak random field in less than four dimensions. The borderline dimensionality above which mean-field-theory results hold is six.

Received 12 August 1975

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.35.1399

©1975 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973

Shang-keng Ma^†

Department of Physics and Institute for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037

^*On leave from the Physics Department, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
^†Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow.

Comments & Replies

Ferromagnetic Phase Transitions in Random Fields: The Breakdown of Scaling Laws

G. Grinstein

Phys. Rev. Lett. 37, 944 (1976)

Lowering of Dimensionality in Phase Transitions with Random Fields

Amnon Aharony, Yoseph Imry, and Shang-keng Ma

Phys. Rev. Lett. 37, 1364 (1976)

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Issue

Vol. 35, Iss. 21 — 24 November 1975

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