Random Fields and Spin Glasses

Disordered magnetic systems enjoy non-trivial properties which are different and richer than those observed in their pure, non-disordered counterparts. These properties dramatically affect the thermodynamic behaviour and require specific theoretical treatment. This book deals with the theory of magnetic systems in the presence of frozen disorder, in particular paradigmatic and well-known spin models such as the Random Field Ising Model and the Ising Spin Glass. This is a unified presentation using a field theory language which covers mean field theory, dynamics and perturbation expansion within the same theoretical framework. Particular emphasis is given to the connections between different approaches such as statics vs. dynamics, microscopic vs. phenomenological models. The book introduces some useful and little-known techniques in statistical mechanics and field theory. This book will be of great interest to graduate students and researchers in statistical physics and basic field theory.

Author Biography

Cirano De Dominicis is affiliated with the Service de Physique Theoretique, Centre Commissariat … l’Energie Atomique (CEA), Saclay, France. He has won several prizes including the Langevin prize and Ricard prize from the French Physical Society, the Ampere prize from the French Academy of Sciences, and the Silver Medal of the National Center of Scientific Research. Irene Giardina is a researcher at the Istituto Nazionale de Fisica della Materia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), and is also affiliated with the Department of Physics at the University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.