Spin and chiral stiffness of the XY spin glass in two dimensions

We analyze the zero-temperature behavior of the XY Edwards-Anderson spin glass model on a square lattice. A newly developed algorithm combining exact ground-state computations for Ising variables embedded into the planar spins with a specially tailored evolutionary method, resulting in the genetic embedded matching (GEM) approach, allows for the computation of numerically exact ground states for relatively large systems. This enables a thorough re-investigation of the long-standing questions of (i) extensive degeneracy of the ground state and (ii) a possible decoupling of spin and chiral degrees of freedom in such systems. The new algorithm together with appropriate choices for the considered sets of boundary conditions and finite-size scaling techniques allows for a consistent determination of the spin and chiral stiffness scaling exponents.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of the HFM2006 conference, to appear in a special issue of J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Monte Carlo study of the scaling of universal correlation lengths in three-dimensional O(n) spin models

Using an elaborate set of simulational tools and statistically optimized methods of data analysis we investigate the scaling behavior of the correlation lengths of three-dimensional classical O($n$) spin models. Considering three-dimensional slabs $S^1\times S^1\times\mathbb{R}$, the results over a wide range of $n$ indicate the validity of special scaling relations involving universal amplitude ratios that are analogous to results of conformal field theory for two-dimensional systems. A striking mismatch of the $n\to\infty$ extrapolation of these simulations against analytical calculations is traced back to a breakdown of the identification of this limit with the spherical model.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, REVTeX4, slightly shortened, updated critical exponent estimate

Universal amplitude ratios in finite-size scaling: three-dimensional Ising model

Motivated by the results of two-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT) we investigate the finite-size scaling of the mass spectrum of an Ising model on three-dimensional lattices with a spherical cross section. Using a cluster-update Monte Carlo technique we find a linear relation between the masses and the corresponding scaling dimensions, in complete analogy to the situation in two dimensions. Amplitude ratios as well as the amplitudes themselves appear to be universal in this case.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of LATTICE99, Pis

Accelerating molecular dynamics simulations with population annealing

Population annealing is a powerful tool for large-scale Monte Carlo simulations. We adapt this method to molecular dynamics simulations and demonstrate its excellent accelerating effect by simulating the folding of a short peptide commonly used to gauge the performance of algorithms. The method is compared to the well established parallel tempering approach and is found to yield similar performance for the same computational resources. In contrast to other methods, however, population annealing scales to a nearly arbitrary number of parallel processors and it is thus a unique tool that enables molecular dynamics to tap into the massively parallel computing power available in supercomputers that is so much needed for a range of difficult computational problems

Domain-wall excitations in the two-dimensional Ising spin glass

The Ising spin glass in two dimensions exhibits rich behavior with subtle differences in the scaling for different coupling distributions. We use recently developed mappings to graph-theoretic problems together with highly efficient implementations of combinatorial optimization algorithms to determine exact ground states for systems on square lattices with up to $10\,000\times 10\,000$ spins. While these mappings only work for planar graphs, for example for systems with periodic boundary conditions in at most one direction, we suggest here an iterative windowing technique that allows one to determine ground states for fully periodic samples up to sizes similar to those for the open-periodic case. Based on these techniques, a large number of disorder samples are used together with a careful finite-size scaling analysis to determine the stiffness exponents and domain-wall fractal dimensions with unprecedented accuracy, our best estimates being $\theta = -0.2793(3)$ and $d_\mathrm{f} = 1.273\,19(9)$ for Gaussian couplings. For bimodal disorder, a new uniform sampling algorithm allows us to study the domain-wall fractal dimension, finding $d_\mathrm{f} = 1.279(2)$. Additionally, we also investigate the distributions of ground-state energies, of domain-wall energies, and domain-wall lengths.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables, accepted versio

Hadron Structure Functions in a Chiral Quark Model: Regularization, Scaling and Sum Rules

We provide a consistent regularization procedure for calculating hadron structure functions in a chiral quark model. The structure functions are extracted from the absorptive part of the forward Compton amplitude in the Bjorken limit. Since this amplitude is obtained as a time-ordered correlation function its regularization is consistently determined from the regularization of the bosonized action. We find that the Pauli-Villars regularization scheme is most suitable because it preserves both the anomaly structure of QCD and the leading scaling behavior of hadron structure functions in the Bjorken limit. We show that this procedure yields the correct pion structure function. In order to render the sum rules of the regularized polarized nucleon structure functions consistent with their corresponding axial charges we find it mandatory to further specify the regularization procedure. This specification goes beyond the double subtraction scheme commonly employed when studying static hadron properties in this model. In particular the present approach serves to determine the regularization prescription for structure functions whose leading moments are not given by matrix elements of local operators. In this regard we conclude somewhat surprisingly that in this model the Gottfried sum rule does not undergo regularization.Comment: 42 pages LaTex, 5 figures included via epsfi

One-dimensional infinite component vector spin glass with long-range interactions

We investigate zero and finite temperature properties of the one-dimensional spin-glass model for vector spins in the limit of an infinite number m of spin components where the interactions decay with a power, \sigma, of the distance. A diluted version of this model is also studied, but found to deviate significantly from the fully connected model. At zero temperature, defect energies are determined from the difference in ground-state energies between systems with periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions to determine the dependence of the defect-energy exponent \theta on \sigma. A good fit to this dependence is \theta =3/4-\sigma. This implies that the upper critical value of \sigma is 3/4, corresponding to the lower critical dimension in the d-dimensional short-range version of the model. For finite temperatures the large m saddle-point equations are solved self-consistently which gives access to the correlation function, the order parameter and the spin-glass susceptibility. Special attention is paid to the different forms of finite-size scaling effects below and above the lower critical value, \sigma =5/8, which corresponds to the upper critical dimension 8 of the hypercubic short-range model.Comment: 27 pages, 27 figures, 4 table

Cross-correlations in scaling analyses of phase transitions

Thermal or finite-size scaling analyses of importance sampling Monte Carlo time series in the vicinity of phase transition points often combine different estimates for the same quantity, such as a critical exponent, with the intent to reduce statistical fluctuations. We point out that the origin of such estimates in the same time series results in often pronounced cross-correlations which are usually ignored even in high-precision studies, generically leading to significant underestimation of statistical fluctuations. We suggest to use a simple extension of the conventional analysis taking correlation effects into account, which leads to improved estimators with often substantially reduced statistical fluctuations at almost no extra cost in terms of computation time.Comment: 4 pages, RevTEX4, 3 tables, 1 figur