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Usually, the impact of structural disorder on the magnetic phase transition in the 3D Ising model is analyzed within the framework of quenched dilution by a non-magnetic component, where some lattice sites are occupied by Ising spins, while others are non-magnetic. This kind of quenched dilution, according to the Harris criterion, leads to a change in the critical exponents that govern the asymptotics in the vicinity of the phase transition point. However, the inherent reason for the emergence of a new, random Ising model universality class is not the presence of a non-magnetic component but the disorder in structure of spin arrangement. To demonstrate this fact, in this paper, we set up extensive Monte Carlo simulations of a random mixture of two Ising-like magnets that differ in spin length $s$ and concentration $c$. In doing so, we analyze the effect of structural disorder \textit{per se} without appealing to the presence of a non-magnetic component. We support our numerical simulations with renormalization group calculations. Our results demonstrate the emergence of the 3D randomly diluted Ising model universality class in a random mixture of two Ising magnets. While the asymptotic critical exponents coincide with those known for the site-diluted 3D Ising model, the effective critical behavior is triggered by parameters $s$ and $c$. The impact of their interplay is a subject of detailed analysis., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures

We study numerically the kinetic roughening properties of the precursor fronts of nonvolatile liquid droplets spreading on solid substrates, for the case of circular droplets, more frequently addressed in experiments. To this end, we perform kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations of a lattice gas model whose kinetic roughening behavior has been recently assessed in a band geometry [J.\ M.\ Marcos {\em et al.}, Phys.\ Rev.\ E {\bf 105}, 054801 (2022)]. We compare the scaling behaviors of the spreading fronts obtained for the two geometries, in view of the occurrence of, for example, different universality subclasses for different growth geometries for the related important Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. For circular droplets we obtain that the average front position increases (sub-)diffusively as $R\sim t^{\delta}$, where $\delta \lesssim 1/2$ shows a stronger dependence on the conditions considered for temperature and substrate wettability than in band geometry. In spite of this, front fluctuations for circular droplets behave qualitatively similar to those seen for band geometries, with kinetic roughening exponent values which similarly depend on temperature $T$ but become $T$-independent for sufficiently high $T$. Circular droplets also display intrinsic anomalous scaling with different values of the roughness exponent at short and large length scales, and fluctuations statistics which are close to the Tracy-Widom probability distribution function that applies in the corresponding KPZ universality subclass, now the one expected for interfaces with an overall circular symmetry., Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures

We study the critical dynamics of the three-dimensional Heisenberg model with random cubic anisotropy in the out-of-equilibrium and equilibrium regimes. Analytical approaches based on field theory predict that the universality class of this model is that of the three-dimensional site-diluted Ising model. We have been able to estimate the dynamic critical exponent by working in the equilibrium regime and by computing the integrated autocorrelation times obtaining $z=2.50(5)$ (free scaling corrections) and $z=2.31(7)$ (by fixing the scaling corrections to that of the 3D site-diluted Ising model). In the out-of-equilibrium regime we have focused in the study of the dynamic correlation length which has allowed us to compute the dynamic critical exponent obtaining $z=2.38(2)$, which is compatible with the equilibrium ones. Finally, both estimates are also compatible with the most accurate prediction $z=2.35(2)$ from numerical simulations of the 3D site-diluted Ising model, in agreement with the predictions based on field theory., Comment: 7 pages and 3 figures

We have studied numerically the Lee-Yang singularities of the four dimensional Ising model at criticality, which is believed to be in the same universality class as the $\phi_4^4$ scalar field theory. We have focused in the numerical characterization of the logarithmic corrections to the scaling of the zeros of the partition function and its cumulative probability distribution, finding a very good agreement with the predictions of the renormalization group computation on the $\phi_4^4$ scalar field theory. To obtain these results, we have extended a previous study [R. Kenna, C. B. Lang, Nucl. Phys., 1993, B393, 461] in which there were computed numerically the first two zeros for $L\leqslant 24$ lattices, to the computation of the first four zeros for $L\leqslant 64$ lattices., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables

We have studied numerically the appearance of multiscaling behavior in the three-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising site diluted model, in the form of a multifractal distribution of the decay exponents for the spatial correlation functions at the critical temperature. We have computed the exponents of the long-distance decay of higher moments of the correlation function, up to the 10th power, by studying three different quantities: global susceptibilities, local susceptibilities and correlation functions. We have found very clear evidences for multiscaling behavior., Comment: 19 pages and 5 figures. Final version of the paper

Rejuvenation and memory, long considered the distinguishing features of spin glasses, have recently been proven to result from the growth of multiple length scales. This insight, enabled by simulations on the Janus~II supercomputer, has opened the door to a quantitative analysis. We combine numerical simulations with comparable experiments to introduce two coefficients that quantify memory. A third coefficient has been recently presented by Freedberg et al. We show that these coefficients are physically equivalent by studying their temperature and waiting-time dependence., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

We unveil the multifractal behavior of Ising spin glasses in their low-temperature phase. Using the Janus II custom-built supercomputer, the spin-glass correlation function is studied locally. Dramatic fluctuations are found when pairs of sites at the same distance are compared. The scaling of these fluctuations, as the spin-glass coherence length grows with time, is characterized through the computation of the singularity spectrum and its corresponding Legendre transform. A comparatively small number of site pairs controls the average correlation that governs the response to a magnetic field. We explain how this scenario of dramatic fluctuations (at length scales smaller than the coherence length) can be reconciled with the smooth, self-averaging behavior that has long been considered to describe spin-glass dynamics., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures

We study the interface representation of the contact process (CP) at its directed-percolation critical point, where the scaling properties of the interface can be related to those of the original particle model. Interestingly, such a behavior happens to be intrinsically anomalous and more complex than that described by the standard Family-Vicsek dynamic scaling Ansatz of surface kinetic roughening. We expand on a previous numerical study by Dickman and Mu\~noz [Phys. Rev. E 62, 7632 (2000)] to fully characterize the kinetic roughening universality class for interface dimensions $d=1, 2$, and 3. Beyond obtaining scaling exponent values, we characterize the interface fluctuations via their probability density function (PDF) and covariance, seen to display universal properties which are qualitatively similar to those recently assessed for the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) and other important universality classes of kinetic roughening. Quantitatively, while for $d=1$ the interface covariance seems to be well described by the KPZ, Airy$_1$ covariance, no such agreement occurs in terms of the fluctuation PDF nor the scaling exponents., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

The extended principle of superposition has been a touchstone of spin glass dynamics for almost thirty years. The Uppsala group has demonstrated its validity for the metallic spin glass, CuMn, for magnetic fields $H$ up to 10 Oe at the reduced temperature $T_\mathrm{r}=T/T_\mathrm{g} = 0.95$, where $T_\mathrm{g}$ is the spin glass condensation temperature. For $H > 10$ Oe, they observe a departure from linear response which they ascribe to the development of non-linear dynamics. The thrust of this paper is to develop a microscopic origin for this behavior by focusing on the time development of the spin glass correlation length, $\xi(t,t_\mathrm{w};H)$. Here, $t$ is the time after $H$ changes, and $t_\mathrm{w}$ is the time from the quench for $T>T_\mathrm{g}$ to the working temperature $T$ until $H$ changes. We connect the growth of $\xi(t,t_\mathrm{w};H)$ to the barrier heights $\Delta(t_\mathrm{w})$ that set the dynamics. The effect of $H$ on the magnitude of $\Delta(t_\mathrm{w})$ is responsible for affecting differently the two dynamical protocols associated with turning $H$ off (TRM, or thermoremanent magnetization) or on (ZFC, or zero field-cooled magnetization). In this paper, we display the difference between the zero-field cooled $\xi_{\text {ZFC}}(t,t_\mathrm{w};H)$ and the thermoremanent magnetization $\xi_{\text {TRM}}(t,t_\mathrm{w};H)$ correlation lengths as $H$ increases, both experimentally and through numerical simulations, corresponding to the violation of the extended principle of superposition in line with the finding of the Uppsala Group., Comment: 23 pages and 18 figures

We have studied the kinetic roughening behavior of the fronts of coffee-ring aggregates via extensive numerical simulations of the off-lattice model considered for this context in [C.\ S.\ Dias {\it et al.}, Soft Matter {\bf 14}, 1903 (2018)]. This model describes ballistic aggregation of patchy colloids and depends on a parameter $r_\mathrm{AB}$ which controls the affinity of the two patches, A and B. Suitable boundary conditions allow us to elucidate a discontinuous pinning-depinning transition at $r_\mathrm{AB}=0$, with the front displaying intrinsic anomalous scaling, but with unusual exponent values $\alpha \simeq 1.2$, $\alpha_{\rm loc} \simeq 0.5$, $\beta\simeq 1$, and $z\simeq 1.2$. For $0 0.01$ and the system suffers a strong crossover dominated by the $r_\mathrm{AB}=0$ behavior for $r_\mathrm{AB}\le 0.01$. A detailed analysis of correlation functions shows that the aggregate fronts are always in the moving phase for $0

Memory and rejuvenation effects in the magnetic response of off-equilibrium spin glasses have been widely regarded as the doorway into the experimental exploration of ultrametricity and temperature chaos (maybe the most exotic features in glassy free-energy landscapes). Unfortunately, despite more than twenty years of theoretical efforts following the experimental discovery of memory and rejuvenation, these effects have thus far been impossible to simulate reliably. Yet, three recent developments convinced us to accept this challenge: first, the custom-built Janus II supercomputer makes it possible to carry out "numerical experiments" in which the very same quantities that can be measured in single crystals of CuMn are computed from the simulation, allowing for parallel analysis of the simulation/experiment data. Second, Janus II simulations have taught us how numerical and experimental length scales should be compared. Third, we have recently understood how temperature chaos materializes in aging dynamics. All three aspects have proved crucial for reliably reproducing rejuvenation and memory effects on the computer. Our analysis shows that (at least) three different length scales play a key role in aging dynamics, while essentially all theoretical analyses of the aging dynamics emphasize the presence and the crucial role of a single glassy correlation length., Comment: Main text:13 pages, 4 figures SM: 7 pages, 8 figures

Use of dedicated computers in spin glass simulations allows one to equilibrate very large samples (of size as large as $L=32$) and to carry out "computer experiments" that can be compared to (and analyzed in combination with) laboratory experiments on spin-glass samples. In the absence of a magnetic field, the most economic conclusion of the combined analysis of equilibrium and non-equilibrium simulations is that an RSB spin glass phase is present in three spatial dimensions. However, in the presence of a field, the lower critical dimension for the de Almeida-Thouless transition seems to be larger than three., Comment: 28 pages and 11 figures. We have added an additional scenario in Sect. 4. To appear as a contribution to the edited volume "Spin Glass Theory & Far Beyond - Replica Symmetry Breaking after 40 Years", World Scientific

We have used kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations of a lattice gas to study front fluctuations in the spreading of a non-volatile liquid droplet onto a solid substrate. Our results are consistent with a diffusive growth law for the radius of the precursor layer, $R \sim t^{\delta}$, with $\delta \approx 1/2$ in all the conditions considered for temperature and substrate wettability, in good agreement with previous studies. The fluctuations of the front exhibit kinetic roughening properties with exponent values which depend on temperature $T$, but become $T$-independent for sufficiently high $T$. Moreover, strong evidences of intrinsic anomalous scaling have been found, characterized by different values of the roughness exponent at short and large length scales. Although such a behavior differs from the scaling properties of the one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class, the front covariance and the probability distribution function of front fluctuations found in our kMC simulations do display KPZ behavior, agreeing with simulations of a continuum height equation proposed in this context. However, this equation does not feature intrinsic anomalous scaling, at variance with the discrete model., Comment: 15 pages and 14 figures. To be published in PRE

We have studied the critical properties of the three-dimensional random anisotropy Heisenberg model by means of numerical simulations using the Parallel Tempering method. We have simulated the model with two different disorder distributions, cubic and isotropic ones, with two different {anisotropy} strengths for each disorder class. For the case of the anisotropic disorder, we have found evidences of universality by finding critical exponents and universal dimensionless ratios independent of the strength of the disorder. In the case of isotropic disorder distribution the situation is very involved: we have found two phase transitions in the magnetization channel which are merging for larger lattices remaining a zero magnetization low temperature phase. Studying this region using a spin glass order parameter we have found evidences for a spin glass phase transition. We have estimated effective critical exponents for the spin glass phase transition for the different values of the strength of the isotropic disorder, discussing the cross-over regime., Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures. We have extended the simulations of the isotropic disorder to very low temperatures finding a low temperature phase (for the lattice sizes simulated) with zero magnetization and with spin glass properties. Final version published in PRE

A growing body of evidence indicates that the sluggish low-temperature dynamics of glass formers (e.g. supercooled liquids, colloids or spin glasses) is due to a growing correlation length. Which is the effective field theory that describes these correlations? The natural field theory was drastically simplified by Bray and Roberts in 1980. More than forty years later, we confirm the tenets of Bray and Roberts theory by studying the Ising spin glass in an externally applied magnetic field, both in four spatial dimensions (data obtained from the Janus collaboration) and on the Bethe lattice., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted in PRE

The synergy between experiment, theory, and simulations enables a microscopic analysis of spin-glass dynamics in a magnetic field in the vicinity of and below the spin-glass transition temperature $T_\mathrm{g}$. The spin-glass correlation length, $\xi(t,t_\mathrm{w};T)$, is analysed both in experiments and in simulations in terms of the waiting time $t_\mathrm{w}$ after the spin glass has been cooled down to a stabilised measuring temperature $T

We find a dynamic effect in the non-equilibrium dynamics of a spin glass that closely parallels equilibrium temperature chaos. This effect, that we name dynamic temperature chaos, is spatially heterogeneous to a large degree. The key controlling quantity is the time-growing spin-glass coherence length. Our detailed characterization of dynamic temperature chaos paves the way for the analysis of recent and forthcoming experiments. This work has been made possible thanks to the most massive simulation to date of non-equilibrium dynamics, carried out on the Janus~II custom-built supercomputer., Comment: Version accepted for publication in Communication Physics 10 pages, 9 figures

The correlation length $\xi$, a key quantity in glassy dynamics, can now be precisely measured for spin glasses both in experiments and in simulations. However, known analysis methods lead to discrepancies either for large external fields or close to the glass temperature. We solve this problem by introducing a scaling law that takes into account both the magnetic field and the time-dependent spin-glass correlation length. The scaling law is successfully tested against experimental measurements in a CuMn single crystal and against large-scale simulations on the Janus II dedicated computer., Comment: Revised version, including supplemental material

Spin glasses are the paradigm of complex systems. These materials present really slow dynamics. However, the nature of the spin glass phase in finite dimensional systems is still controversial. Different theories describing the low temperature phase have been proposed: droplet, replica symmetry breaking and chaotic pairs. We present analytical studies of critical properties of spin glasses, in particular, critical exponents at and below the phase transition, existence of a phase transition in a magnetic field, computation of the lower critical dimension (in presence/absence of a magnetic field). We also introduce some rigorous results based on the concept of metastate. Finally, we report some numerical results regarding the construction of the Aizenman-Wehr metastate, scaling of the correlation functions in the spin glass phase and existence of a phase transition in a field, confronting these results with the predictions of different theories., Comment: 52 pages and 19 figures. Based on the 2019 Ising Lectures in Lviv

We have studied front dynamics for the discrete $A+A \leftrightarrow A$ reaction-diffusion system, which in the continuum is described by the (stochastic) Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piscunov equation. We have revisited this discrete model in two space dimensions by means of extensive numerical simulations and an improved analysis of the time evolution of the interface separating the stable and unstable phases. In particular, we have measured the full set of critical exponents which characterize the spatio-temporal fluctuations of such front for different lattice sizes, focusing mainly in the front width and correlation length. These exponents are in very good agreement with those computed in [E. Moro, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 238303 (2001)] and correspond to those of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class for one-dimensional interfaces. Furthermore, we have studied the one-point statistics and the covariance of rescaled front fluctuations, which had remained thus far unexplored in the literature and allows for a further stringent test of KPZ universality., Comment: 19 pages and 9 figures

Working in and out of equilibrium and using state-of-the-art techniques we have computed the dynamic critical exponent of the three dimensional Heisenberg model. By computing the integrated autocorrelation time at equilibrium, for lattice sizes $L\le 64$, we have obtained $z=2.033(5)$. In the out of equilibrium regime we have run very large lattices ($L\le 250$) obtaining $z=2.04(2)$ from the growth of the correlation length. We compare our values with that previously computed at equilibrium with relatively small lattices ($L\le 24$), with that provided by means a three-loops calculation using perturbation theory and with experiments. Finally we have checked previous estimates of the static critical exponents, $\eta$ and $\nu$, in the out of equilibrium regime., Comment: 10 pages (two columns) and 12 figures. We have extended the paper to cover the equilibrium dynamics of the model

Motivated by recent experiments of exceptional accuracy, we study numerically the spin-glass dynamics in a film geometry. We cover all the relevant time regimes, from picoseconds to equilibrium, at temperatures at and below the 3D critical point. The dimensional crossover from 3D to 2D dynamics, that starts when the correlation length becomes comparable to the film thickness, consists of four dynamical regimes. Our analysis, based on a Renormalization Group transformation, finds consistent the overall physical picture employed by Orbach et al. in the interpretation of their experiments., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

We study the problem of glassy relaxations in the presence of an external field in the highly controlled context of a spin-glass simulation. We consider a small spin glass in three dimensions (specifically, a lattice of size L=8, small enough to be equilibrated through a Parallel Tempering simulations at low temperatures, deep in the spin glass phase). After equilibrating the sample, an external field is switched on, and the subsequent dynamics is studied. The field turns out to reduce the relaxation time, but huge statistical fluctuations are found when different samples are compared. After taking care of these fluctuations we find that the expected linear regime is very narrow. Nevertheless, when regarded as a purely numerical method, we find that the external field is extremely effective in reducing the relaxation times., Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures; Published version

We consider the spatial correlation function of the two-dimensional Ising spin glass under out-equilibrium conditions. We pay special attention to the scaling limit reached upon approaching zero temperature. The field-theory of a non-interacting field makes a surprisingly good job at describing the spatial shape of the correlation function of the out-equilibrium Edwards-Anderson Ising model in two dimensions., Comment: 20 pages + 5 Figures

Recent high precision experimental results on spin-glass films ask for a detailed understanding of the domain-growth dynamics of two-dimensional spin glasses. To achieve this goal, we numerically simulate the out-equilibrium dynamics of the Ising spin glass for a time that spans close to twelve orders of magnitude (from picoseconds to order of a second), in systems large enough to avoid finite-size effects. We find that the time-growth of the size of the glassy domains is excellently described by a single scaling function. A single time-scale $\tau(T)$ controls the dynamics. $\tau(T)$ diverges upon approaching the $T=0$ critical point. The divergence of $\tau(T\to 0)$ is Arrhenius-like, with a barrier height that depends very mildly on temperature. The growth of this barrier-height is best described by critical dynamics. As a side product we obtain an impressive confirmation of universality of the equilibrium behavior of two-dimensional spin-glasses., Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures. Updated references. Added DOI and Journal ref

The Mpemba effect occurs when a hot system cools faster than an initially colder one, when both are refrigerated in the same thermal reservoir. Using the custom built supercomputer Janus II, we study the Mpemba effect in spin glasses and show that it is a non-equilibrium process, governed by the coherence length \xi of the system. The effect occurs when the bath temperature lies in the glassy phase, but it is not necessary for the thermal protocol to cross the critical temperature. In fact, the Mpemba effect follows from a strong relationship between the internal energy and \xi that turns out to be a sure-tell sign of being in the glassy phase. Thus, the Mpemba effect presents itself as an intriguing new avenue for the experimental study of the coherence length in supercooled liquids and other glass formers., Comment: Version accepted for publication in PNAS. 6 pages, 7 figures

Experiments on spin glasses can now make precise measurements of the exponent $z(T)$ governing the growth of glassy domains, while our computational capabilities allow us to make quantitative predictions for experimental scales. However, experimental and numerical values for $z(T)$ have differed. We use new simulations on the Janus II computer to resolve this discrepancy, finding a time-dependent $z(T, t_w)$, which leads to the experimental value through mild extrapolations. Furthermore, theoretical insight is gained by studying a crossover between the $T = T_c$ and $T = 0$ fixed points., Comment: Version accepted for publication in PRL. 12 pages, 9 figures

We have introduced a variational method to improve the computation of integrated correlation times in the Parallel Tempering Dynamics, obtaining a better estimate (a lower bound, at least) of the exponential correlation time. Using this determination of the correlation times, we revisited the problem of the characterization of the chaos in temperature in finite dimensional spin glasses by means of the study of correlations between different chaos indicators computed in the static and the correlation times of the Parallel Tempering dynamics. The sample-distribution of the characteristic time for the Parallel Tempering dynamics turns out to be fat-tailed and it obeys finite-size scaling., Comment: New appendix added. Version to appear in JSTAT

We first reproduce on the Janus and Janus II computers a milestone experiment that measures the spin-glass coherence length through the lowering of free-energy barriers induced by the Zeeman effect. Secondly we determine the scaling behavior that allows a quantitative analysis of a new experiment reported in the companion Letter [S. Guchhait and R. Orbach, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 157203 (2017)]. The value of the coherence length estimated through the analysis of microscopic correlation functions turns out to be quantitatively consistent with its measurement through macroscopic response functions. Further, non-linear susceptibilities, recently measured in glass-forming liquids, scale as powers of the same microscopic length., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Chaotic size dependence makes it extremely difficult to take the thermodynamic limit in disordered systems. Instead, the metastate, which is a distribution over thermodynamic states, might have a smooth limit. So far, studies of the metastate have been mostly mathematical. We present a numerical construction of the metastate for the d=3 Ising spin glass. We work in equilibrium, below the critical temperature. Leveraging recent rigorous results, our numerical analysis gives evidence for a "dispersed" metastate, supported on many thermodynamic states., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We explicitly compute the critical exponents associated with logarithmic corrections (the so-called hatted exponents) starting from the renormalization group equations and the mean field behavior for a wide class of models at the upper critical behavior (for short and long range $\phi^n$-theories) and below it. This allows us to check the scaling relations among these critical exponents obtained by analysing the complex singularities (Lee-Yang and Fisher zeroes) of these models. Moreover, we have obtained an explicit method to compute the $\hat{\coppa}$ exponent [defined by $\xi\sim L (\log L)^{\hat{\coppa}}$] and, finally, we have found a new derivation of the scaling law associated with it., Comment: 10 pages

The unifying feature of glass formers (such as polymers, supercooled liquids, colloids, granulars, spin glasses, superconductors, ...) is a sluggish dynamics at low temperatures. Indeed, their dynamics is so slow that thermal equilibrium is never reached in macroscopic samples: in analogy with living beings, glasses are said to age. Here, we show how to relate experimentally relevant quantities with the experimentally unreachable low-temperature equilibrium phase. We have performed a very accurate computation of the non-equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation ratio for the three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson Ising spin glass, by means of large-scale simulations on the special-purpose computers Janus and Janus II. This ratio (computed for finite times on very large, effectively infinite, systems) is compared with the equilibrium probability distribution of the spin overlap for finite sizes. The resulting quantitative statics-dynamics dictionary, based on observables that can be measured with current experimental methods, could allow the experimental exploration of important features of the spin-glass phase without uncontrollable extrapolations to infinite times or system sizes., Comment: Version accepted for publication in PNAS. Reuploaded to fix a typo in the list of authors

The solar diameter has been monitored at the Royal Observatory of the Spanish Navy (today the Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada: ROA) almost continuously since its creation in 1753 (i.e. during the last quarter of a millennium). After a painstaking effort to collect data in the historical archive of this institution, we present here the data of the solar semidiameter from 1773 to 2006, making up an extensive new database for solar-radius measurements can be considered. We have calculated the solar semidiameter from the transit times registered by the observers (except values of the solar radius from the modern Danjon astrolabe, which were published by ROA). These data were analysed to reveal any significant long-term trends, but no such trends were found. Therefore, the data sample confirms the constancy of the solar diameter during the last quarter of a millennium (approximately) within instrumental and methodological limits. Moreover, no relationship between solar radius and the new sunspot-number index has been found from measurements of the ROA. Finally, the mean value for solar semidiameter (with one standard deviation) calculated from the observations made in the ROA (1773-2006), after applying corrections by refraction and diffraction, is equal to 958.87" \pm 1.77", Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Solar Physics

We use finite size scaling to study Ising spin glasses in two spatial dimensions. The issue of universality is addressed by comparing discrete and continuous probability distributions for the quenched random couplings. The sophisticated temperature dependency of the scaling fields is identified as the major obstacle that has impeded a complete analysis. Once temperature is relinquished in favor of the correlation length as the basic variable, we obtain a reliable estimation of the anomalous dimension and of the thermal critical exponent. Universality among binary and Gaussian couplings is confirmed to a high numerical accuracy., Comment: 11 pages,7 figures

We revisit the universal behavior of crystalline membranes at and below the crumpling transition, which pertains to the mechanical properties of important soft and hard matter materials, such as the cytoskeleton of red blood cells or graphene. Specifically, we perform large-scale Monte Carlo simulations of a triangulated two-dimensional phantom network which is freely fluctuating in three-dimensional space. We obtain a continuous crumpling transition characterized by critical exponents which we estimate accurately through the use of finite-size techniques. By controlling the scaling corrections, we additionally compute with high accuracy the asymptotic value of the Poisson ratio in the flat phase, thus characterizing the auxetic properties of this class of systems. We obtain agreement with the value which is universally expected for polymerized membranes with a fixed connectivity., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. Final version to be published in PRE

We present our analysis of a system of interacting islands of XY spins on a triangular lattice that has been introduced a few years ago by Eley et al. to account for the phenomenology in experiments on tunable arrays of proximity coupled long superconductor-normal metal-superconductor junctions. The main features of the model are the separation of a local and a global interaction energy scale and the mesoscopic character of the spin islands. Upon lowering the temperature the model undergoes two crossovers corresponding to an increasing phase coherence on a single island and to the onset of global coherence across the array; the latter is a thermodynamical phase transition in the Ising universality class. The dependence of the second transition on the island edge-to-edge spacing is related to the proximity-effect of the coupling constant., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ B

We revisited, by means of numerical simulations, the one dimensional bond diluted Levy Ising spin glasses outside the limit of validity of mean field theories. In these models the probability that two spins at distance $r$ interact (via a disordered interactions, $J_{ij}=\pm 1$) decays as $r^{-\rho}$. We have estimated, using finite size scaling techniques, the infinite volume correlation length and spin glass susceptibility for $\rho=5/3$ and $\rho=9/5$. We have obtained strong evidence for divergences of the previous observables at a non zero critical temperature. We discuss the behavior of the critical exponents, especially when approaching the value $\rho=2$, corresponding to a critical threshold beyond which the model has no phase transition. Finally, we numerically study the model right at the threshold value $\rho=2$., Comment: 9 pages and 16 figures

We perform equilibrium parallel-tempering simulations of the 3D Ising Edwards-Anderson spin glass in a field. A traditional analysis shows no signs of a phase transition. Yet, we encounter dramatic fluctuations in the behaviour of the model: Averages over all the data only describe the behaviour of a small fraction of it. Therefore we develop a new approach to study the equilibrium behaviour of the system, by classifying the measurements as a function of a conditioning variate. We propose a finite-size scaling analysis based on the probability distribution function of the conditioning variate, which may accelerate the convergence to the thermodynamic limit. In this way, we find a non-trivial spectrum of behaviours, where a part of the measurements behaves as the average, while the majority of them shows signs of scale invariance. As a result, we can estimate the temperature interval where the phase transition in a field ought to lie, if it exists. Although this would-be critical regime is unreachable with present resources, the numerical challenge is finally well posed., Comment: 42 pages, 19 figures. Minor changes and added figure (results unchanged)

We report a high-precision finite-size scaling study of the critical behavior of the three-dimensional Ising Edwards-Anderson model (the Ising spin glass). We have thermalized lattices up to L=40 using the Janus dedicated computer. Our analysis takes into account leading-order corrections to scaling. We obtain Tc = 1.1019(29) for the critical temperature, \nu = 2.562(42) for the thermal exponent, \eta = -0.3900(36) for the anomalous dimension and \omega = 1.12(10) for the exponent of the leading corrections to scaling. Standard (hyper)scaling relations yield \alpha = -5.69(13), \beta = 0.782(10) and \gamma = 6.13(11). We also compute several universal quantities at Tc., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

This paper describes the architecture, the development and the implementation of Janus II, a new generation application-driven number cruncher optimized for Monte Carlo simulations of spin systems (mainly spin glasses). This domain of computational physics is a recognized grand challenge of high-performance computing: the resources necessary to study in detail theoretical models that can make contact with experimental data are by far beyond those available using commodity computer systems. On the other hand, several specific features of the associated algorithms suggest that unconventional computer architectures, which can be implemented with available electronics technologies, may lead to order of magnitude increases in performance, reducing to acceptable values on human scales the time needed to carry out simulation campaigns that would take centuries on commercially available machines. Janus II is one such machine, recently developed and commissioned, that builds upon and improves on the successful JANUS machine, which has been used for physics since 2008 and is still in operation today. This paper describes in detail the motivations behind the project, the computational requirements, the architecture and the implementation of this new machine and compares its expected performances with those of currently available commercial systems., Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures

We report on extensive numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Heisenberg model and its analysis through finite-size scaling of Lee-Yang zeros. Besides the critical regime, we also investigate scaling in the ferromagnetic phase. We show that, in this case of broken symmetry, the corrections to scaling contain information on the Goldstone modes. We present a comprehensive Lee-Yang analysis, including the density of zeros and confirm recent numerical estimates for critical exponents., Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures

We study the off-equilibrium dynamics of the three-dimensional Ising spin glass in the presence of an external magnetic field. We have performed simulations both at fixed temperature and with an annealing protocol. Thanks to the Janus special-purpose computer, based on FPGAs, we have been able to reach times equivalent to 0.01 seconds in experiments. We have studied the system relaxation both for high and for low temperatures, clearly identifying a dynamical transition point. This dynamical temperature is strictly positive and depends on the external applied magnetic field. We discuss different possibilities for the underlying physics, which include a thermodynamical spin-glass transition, a mode-coupling crossover or an interpretation reminiscent of the random first-order picture of structural glasses., Comment: Version accepted in PRE. 23 pages, 23 figures

We have characterized numerically, using the Janus computer, the Lee-Yang complex singularities related to the overlap in the 3D Ising spin glass with binary couplings in a wide range of temperatures (both in the critical and in the spin-glass phase). Studying the behavior of the zeros at the critical point, we have obtained an accurate measurement of the anomalous dimension in very good agreement with the values quoted in the literature. In addition, by studying the density of the zeros we have been able to characterize the phase transition and to investigate the Edwards-Anderson order parameter in the spin-glass phase, finding agreement with the values obtained using more conventional techniques., Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures. Some typos corrected and references added

A recent interesting paper [Yucesoy et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 177204 (2012), arXiv:1206:0783] compares the low-temperature phase of the 3D Edwards-Anderson (EA) model to its mean-field counterpart, the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model. The authors study the overlap distributions P_J(q) and conclude that the two models behave differently. Here we notice that a similar analysis using state-of-the-art, larger data sets for the EA model (generated with the Janus computer) leads to a very clear interpretation of the results of Yucesoy et al., showing that the EA model behaves as predicted by the replica symmetry breaking (RSB) theory., Comment: Version accepted for publication in PRL. 1 page, 1 figure

We present a microcanonical Monte Carlo simulation of the site-diluted Potts model in three dimensions with eight internal states, partly carried out in the citizen supercomputer Ibercivis. Upon dilution, the pure model's first-order transition becomes of the second-order at a tricritical point. We compute accurately the critical exponents at the tricritical point. As expected from the Cardy-Jacobsen conjecture, they are compatible with their Random Field Ising Model counterpart. The conclusion is further reinforced by comparison with older data for the Potts model with four states., Comment: Final version. 9 pages, 9 figures

We describe Janus, a massively parallel FPGA-based computer optimized for the simulation of spin glasses, theoretical models for the behavior of glassy materials. FPGAs (as compared to GPUs or many-core processors) provide a complementary approach to massively parallel computing. In particular, our model problem is formulated in terms of binary variables, and floating-point operations can be (almost) completely avoided. The FPGA architecture allows us to run many independent threads with almost no latencies in memory access, thus updating up to 1024 spins per cycle. We describe Janus in detail and we summarize the physics results obtained in four years of operation of this machine; we discuss two types of physics applications: long simulations on very large systems (which try to mimic and provide understanding about the experimental non-equilibrium dynamics), and low-temperature equilibrium simulations using an artificial parallel tempering dynamics. The time scale of our non-equilibrium simulations spans eleven orders of magnitude (from picoseconds to a tenth of a second). On the other hand, our equilibrium simulations are unprecedented both because of the low temperatures reached and for the large systems that we have brought to equilibrium. A finite-time scaling ansatz emerges from the detailed comparison of the two sets of simulations. Janus has made it possible to perform spin-glass simulations that would take several decades on more conventional architectures. The paper ends with an assessment of the potential of possible future versions of the Janus architecture, based on state-of-the-art technology., Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures

Spin glasses are a longstanding model for the sluggish dynamics that appears at the glass transition. However, spin glasses differ from structural glasses for a crucial feature: they enjoy a time reversal symmetry. This symmetry can be broken by applying an external magnetic field, but embarrassingly little is known about the critical behaviour of a spin glass in a field. In this context, the space dimension is crucial. Simulations are easier to interpret in a large number of dimensions, but one must work below the upper critical dimension (i.e., in d<6) in order for results to have relevance for experiments. Here we show conclusive evidence for the presence of a phase transition in a four-dimensional spin glass in a field. Two ingredients were crucial for this achievement: massive numerical simulations were carried out on the Janus special-purpose computer, and a new and powerful finite-size scaling method., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

We study the sample-to-sample fluctuations of the overlap probability densities from large-scale equilibrium simulations of the three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson spin glass below the critical temperature. Ultrametricity, Stochastic Stability and Overlap Equivalence impose constraints on the moments of the overlap probability densities that can be tested against numerical data. We found small deviations from the Ghirlanda-Guerra predictions, which get smaller as system size increases. We also focus on the shape of the overlap distribution, comparing the numerical data to a mean-field-like prediction in which finite-size effects are taken into account by substituting delta functions with broad peaks, Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures; version accepted for publication on PRB and updated Refs