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We study the chaotic behavior of the Gibbs state of spin-glasses under the application of an external magnetic field, in the crossover region where the field intensity scales proportional to $1/\sqrt{N}$, being $N$ the system size. We show that Replica Symmetry Breaking (RSB) theory provides universal predictions for chaotic behavior: they depend only on the zero-field overlap probability function $P(q)$ and are independent of other features of the system. Using solely $P(q)$ as input we can analytically predict quantitatively the statistics of the states in a small field. In the infinite volume limit, each spin-glass sample is characterized by an infinite number of states that have a tree-like structure. We generate the corresponding probability distribution through efficient sampling using a representation based on the Bolthausen-Sznitman coalescent. In this way, we can compute quantitatively properties in the presence of a magnetic field in the crossover region, the overlap probability distribution in the presence of a small field and the degree of decorrelation as the field is increased. To test our computations, we have simulated the Bethe lattice spin glass and the 4D Edwards-Anderson model, finding in both cases excellent agreement with the universal predictions., Comment: New version with modifications included after the review process and publication. 17 pages, 13 figures

The very existence of a phase transition for spin glasses in an external magnetic field is controversial, even in high dimensions. We carry out massive simulations of the Ising spin-glass in a field, in six dimensions (which, according to classical -- but not generally accepted -- field-theoretical studies, is the upper critical dimension). We obtain results compatible with a second-order phase transition and estimate its critical exponents for the simulated lattice sizes. The detailed analysis performed by other authors of the replica symmetric Hamiltonian, under the hypothesis of critical behavior, predicts that the ratio of the renormalized coupling constants remain bounded as the correlation length grows. Our numerical results are in agreement with this expectation., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures

Changes in magnetic critical behaviour of quenched structurally-disordered magnets are usually exemplified in experiments and in MC simulations by diluted systems consisting of magnetic and non-magnetic components. By our study we aim to show, that similar effects can be observed not only for diluted magnets with non-magnetic impurities, but may be implemented, e.g., by presence of two (and more) chemically different magnetic components as well. To this end, we consider a model of the structurally-disordered quenched magnet where all lattice sites are occupied by Ising-like spins of different length $L$. In such random spin length Ising model the length $L$ of each spin is a random variable governed by the distribution function $p(L)$. We show that this model belongs to the universality class of the site-diluted Ising model. This proves that both models are described by the same values of asymptotic critical exponents. However, their effective critical behaviour differs. As a case study we consider a quenched mixture of two different magnets, with values of elementary magnetic moments $L_1=1$ and $L_2=s$, and of concentration $c$ and $1-c$, correspondingly. We apply field-theoretical renormalization group approach to analyze the renormalization group flow for different initial conditions, triggered by $s$ and $c$, and to calculate effective critical exponents further away from the fixed points of the renormalization group transformation. We show how the effective exponents are governed by difference in properties of the magnetic components., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

We discuss a phase transition in spin glass models which have been rarely considered in the past, namely the phase transition that may take place when two real replicas are forced to be at a larger distance (i.e. at a smaller overlap) than the typical one. In the first part of the work, by solving analytically the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model in a field close to its critical point, we show that even in a paramagnetic phase the forcing of two real replicas to an overlap small enough leads the model to a phase transition where the symmetry between replicas is spontaneously broken. More importantly, this phase transition is related to the de Almeida-Thouless (dAT) critical line. In the second part of the work, we exploit the phase transition in the overlap between two real replicas to identify the critical line in a field in finite-dimensional spin glasses. This is a notoriously difficult computational problem, because of huge finite-size corrections. We introduce a new method of analysis of Monte Carlo data for disordered systems, where the overlap between two real replicas is used as a conditioning variate. We apply this analysis to equilibrium measurements collected in the paramagnetic phase in a field, $h>0$ and $T_c(h)

Using the decay of the out equilibrium spin-spin correlation function we compute the equilibrium Edward-Anderson order parameter in the three dimensional binary Ising spin glass in the spin glass phase. We have checked that the Edward-Anderson order parameter computed from out of equilibrium numerical simulations follows with good precision the critical law as determined in experiments and in numerical studies at equilibrium. We have also studied the dependence of the order parameter with the lattice size. Finally we present a large time study of the scaling of the off-equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relations., Comment: 14 pages, 7 Postscript figures

We show that the dynamical behavior of the 3D Ising spin glass with Gaussian couplings is not compatible with a droplet dynamics. We show that this is implied from the data of reference cond-mat/9904143, that, when analyzed in an accurate way, give multiple evidences of this fact. Our study is based on the analysis of the overlap-overlap correlation function, at different values of the separation r and of the time t., Comment: 7 pages including 5 eps figures

We show that the numerical method based on the off-equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation does work and is very useful and powerful in the study of disordered systems which show a very slow dynamics. We have verified that it gives the right information in the known cases (diluted ferromagnets and random field Ising model far from the critical point) and we used it to obtain more convincing results on the frozen phase of finite-dimensional spin glasses. Moreover we used it to study the Griffiths phase of the diluted and the random field Ising models., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, uses epsfig.sty. Partially presented at StatPhys XX in a talk by one of the authors (FRT). Added 1 reference in the new version

We study the four dimensional Gaussian spin glass in presence of a magnetic field. Using off-equilibrium numerical simulations we have found that the probability distribution of the overlaps is built in the same way as that of the Mean Field approximation with replica symmetry breaking. Finally we have studied the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem in presence of magnetic field., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, uses epsfig.sty. Also available at http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/index_papers_complex.html

We study the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem in the three and four dimensional Gaussian Ising spin glasses using on and off equilibrium simulations. We have characterized numerically the function X(C) that determine the violation and we have studied its scaling properties. Moreover we have computed the function x(C) which characterize the breaking of the replica symmetry directly from equilibrium simulations. The two functions are numerically equal and in this way we have established that the conjectured connection between the violation of fluctuation dissipation theorem in the off-equilibrium dynamics and the replica symmetry breaking at equilibrium holds for finite dimensional spin glasses. These results point to a spin glass phase with spontaneously broken replica symmetry in finite dimensional spin glasses., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, also available at http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/index_papers_complex.html

We compare the probability distributions and Binder cumulants of the overlap in the 3D Ising spin glass with those of the magnetization in the ferromagnetic 2D XY model. We analyze similarities and differences. Evidence for the existence of a phase transition in the spin glass model is obtained thanks to the crossing of the Binder cumulant. We show that the behavior of the XY model is fully compatible with the Kosterlitz-Thouless scenario. Finite size effects have to be dealt with by using great care in order to discern among two very different physical pictures that can look very similar if analyzed without large attention., Comment: 14 pages and 6 figures. Also available at http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/index_papers_complex.html

We report the value of the dynamical critical exponent z for the six dimensional Ising spin glass, measured in three different ways: from the behavior of the energy and the susceptibility with the Monte Carlo time and by studying the overlap-overlap correlation function as a function of the space and time. All three results are in a very good agreement with the Mean Field prediction z=4. Finally we have studied numerically the remanent magnetization in 6 and 8 dimensions and we have compared it with the behavior observed in the SK model, that we have computed analytically., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, uses epsfig.sty. One reference added. Also available at http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/index_papers_complex.html

We discuss the status of Monte Carlo simulations of (mainly finite dimensional) spin glass systems. After a short historical note and a brief theoretical introduction we start by discussing the (crucial) 3D case: the warm phase, the critical point and the cold phase, the ultrametric structure and the out of equilibrium dynamics. With the same style we discuss the cases of 4D and 2D. In a few appendices we give some details about the definition of states and about the tempering Monte Carlo approach., Comment: Contribution to the volume: "Spin Glasses and Random Fields", edited by P. Young. 40 pages including 13 figures