Studying spin-glass physics through analyzing their ground-state properties has a long history. Although there exist polynomial-time algorithms for the two-dimensional planar case, where the problem of finding ground states is transformed to a minimum-weight perfect matching problem, the reachable system sizes have been limited both by the needed CPU time and by memory requirements. In this work, we present an algorithm for the calculation of exact ground states for two-dimensional Ising spin glasses with free boundary conditions in at least one direction. The algorithmic foundations of the method date back to the work of Kasteleyn from the 1960s for computing the complete partition function of the Ising model. Using Kasteleyn cities, we calculate exact ground states for huge two-dimensional planar Ising spin-glass lattices (up to 3000x3000 spins) within reasonable time. According to our knowledge, these are the largest sizes currently available. Kasteleyn cities were recently also used by Thomas and Middleton in the context of extended ground states on the torus. Moreover, they show that the method can also be used for computing ground states of planar graphs. Furthermore, we point out that the correctness of heuristically computed ground states can easily be verified. Finally, we evaluate the solution quality of heuristic variants of the Bieche et al. approach.
Numerical data on scaling of the normalized Binder cumulant and the normalized correlation length are shown for the Thermodynamic limit regime, first for canonical Ising ferromagnet models and then for a range of Ising spin glass models. A fundamental Renormalization Group Theory rule linking the critical exponents for the two observables is well obeyed in the Ising models, but not for the Ising spin glasses in dimensions three and four. We conclude that there is a violation of a standard Josephson hyperscaling rule in Ising spin glasses.
Local minima also known as inherent structures are expected to play an essential role for the behavior of spin glasses. Here, we propose techniques to efficiently sample these configurations in Monte Carlo simulations. For the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick and the three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson model their spectra are determined and compared to analytical results.
The leading term for the average height of the barriers which could separate pure states in Ising spin glasses is calculated using instanton methods. It is finite in dimensions $d < 6$. Replica symmetry breaking requires that the barriers between pure states are infinite in the thermodynamic limit, as finite barriers allow thermal mixing of pure states. As a consequence, a replica symmetry broken phase cannot survive when $d < 6$. However, for $d > 6$ no similar instanton solution exists.
Ising spin glass models with bimodal, Gaussian, uniform and Laplacian interaction distributions in dimension five are studied through detailed numerical simulations. The data are analyzed in both the finite-size scaling regime and the thermodynamic limit regime. It is shown that the values of critical exponents and of dimensionless observables at criticality are model dependent. Models in a single universality class have identical values for each of these critical parameters, so Ising spin glass models in dimension five with different interaction distributions each lie in different universalit…
In addition to the standard scaling rules relating critical exponents at second order transitions, hyperscaling rules involve the dimension of the model. It is well known that in canonical Ising models hyperscaling rules are modified above the upper critical dimension. It was shown by M. Schwartz in 1991 that hyperscaling can also break down in Ising systems with quenched random interactions; Random Field Ising models which are in this class have been intensively studied. Here numerical Ising Spin Glass data relating the scaling of the normalized Binder cumulant to that of the reduced correlat…
Extensive simulations are made of link and spin overlaps in four and five dimensional Ising Spin Glasses (ISGs). Moments and moment ratios of the mean link overlap distributions (the variance, the kurtosis and the skewness) show clear critical behavior around the ISG ordering temperature. The link overlap measurements can be used to identify the ISG transition accurately; the link overlap is often a more efficient tool in this context than the spin overlap because the link overlap inter-sample variability is much weaker. Once the transition temperature is accurately established, critical expon…
The relative importance of the contributions of droplet excitations and domain walls on the ordering of short-range Edwards-Anderson spin glasses in three and four dimensions is studied. We compare the overlap distributions of periodic and free boundary conditions using population annealing Monte Carlo. For system sizes up to about 1000 spins, spin glasses show non-trivial spin overlap distributions. Periodic boundary conditions can trap diffusive domain walls which can contribute to small spin overlaps, and the other contribution is the existence of low-energy droplet excitations within the s…
