Understanding the spin glass transition as a dynamic phenomenon

Abstract

Existing theories explain the spin glass transition in terms of a phase transition and order parameters, and assume the existence of a distinct spin glass phase. In addition to problems related to clarifying the nature of this phase, the common challenge is to explain profound dynamic effects. Here, we propose that the main experimental results of the spin glass transition can be understood in an entirely dynamic picture, without a reference to a distinct spin glass phase, phase transition and order parameters. In this theory, the susceptibility cusp at the glass transition temperature is due to the dynamic crossover between the high-temperature relaxational and low-temperature spin wave regimes. The crossover takes place when t = τ, where t is the observation time and τ is the relaxation time. Time-dependent effects, inconsistent with the phase transition approach, and the logarithmic increase of Tg with field frequency in particular, originate as the immediate consequence of the proposed picture. In our discussion, we explore similarities between the spin and structural glass transitions.