1992/10/20 by James P. Sethna, Karin A. Dahmen, Karin Dahmen +5 · 3 citations
Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Condensed matter physics #Critical point (mathematics) #Field (mathematics) #Hysteresis #Ising model #Jump #Magnetic Properties and Applications #Magnetic field #Magnetization #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Mean field theory #Phase transition #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Solidification and crystal growth phenomena #Statistical physics #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.70.3347
published as Phys.Rev.Lett.70:3347,1993 · 12 pages plus 2 appended figures, plain TeX, CU-MSC-7479
arxiv created 1992/10/20 · openalex publication_date 1993/05/24 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We use the zero-temperature random-field Ising model to study hysteretic behavior at first-order phase transitions. Sweeping the external field through zero, the model exhibits hysteresis, the return-point memory effect, and avalanche fluctuations. There is a critical value of disorder at which a jump in the magnetization (corresponding to an infinite avalanche) first occurs. We study the universal behavior at this critical point using mean-field theory, and also present results of numerical simulations in three dimensions.