First-order phase transition in the quantum spin glass at T=0

Abstract

The van Hemmen model with transverse and random longitudinal field is studied to analyze the tricritical behavior in the quantum Ising spin glass at T=0. The free energy and order parameter are calculated for two types of probability distributions: Gaussian and bimodal. We obtain the phase diagram in the Ω– H plane, where Ω and H are the transverse and random longitudinal fields, respectively. For the case of Gaussian distribution the phase transition is of second order, while the bimodal distribution we observe second-order transition for high-transverse field and first-order transition for small transverse field, with a tricritical point in the phase diagram.