Inhomogeneities on all scales at a phase transition altered by disorder

Abstract

We have done a finite-size scaling study of a continuous phase transition altered by the quenched bond disorder, investigating systems at quasicritical temperatures of each disorder realization by using the equilibriumlike invaded cluster algorithm. Our results indicate that in order to access the thermal critical exponent y(τ), it is necessary to average the free energy at quasicritical temperatures of each disorder configuration. Despite the thermal fluctuations on the scale of the system at the transition point, we find that spatial inhomogeneities form in the system and become more pronounced as the size of the system increases. This leads to different exponents describing rescaling of the fluctuations of observables in disorder and thermodynamic ensembles.