Synopses & Reviews
The study of spin glasses is a fascinating new topic in condensed matter physics that has attracted considerable attention over recent years. This book gives a comprehensive account of the subject, and will provide a valuable overview and reference to both newcomers and experts in the field. The authors discuss the most important developments in the theory, experimental work and computer modelling of spin glasses. The first chapters give a general introduction to the basic concepts, followed by a discussion of mean field theory, the only well-established spin glass theory so far. This book will be of interest primarily to condensed matter physicists, but because of the potentially wide applications of the theory involved, the book should also appeal to researchers in other disciplines, including theoretical physics, metallurgy and computational neuroscience.
Review
"In their excellent and timely book Konrad Fischer and John Hertz, both of whom have played major roles in the development of the theory, have done a considerable service to the condensed-matter community by giving us a very readable and comprehensive account of the key theoretical concepts and an informed discussion of some important experimental results." Physics Today"Any major research library in the physical sciences or the science of complexity should have both books, which are also recommended to specialists in any of the relevant fields." Philip W. Anderson, American Journal of Physics"...it presents a fairly full and clear picture of the physics of spin glasses in an intelligible way. It is worth keeping this book in all university libraries." V.B. Cherepanov, Physics in Canada"...the first to offer a comprehensive account of the subject." Materials Characterization
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [377]-397) and index.
Synopsis
This book gives a comprehensive account of the subject, and will provide a valuable overview and reference to both newcomers and experts in the field. The authors discuss the most important developments in the theory, experimental work and computer modelling of spin glasses.
Synopsis
Spin glasses, a fascinating new area of condensed matter physics, has attracted considerable attention recently. This comprehensive account provides a general introduction to its basic concepts, followed by a discussion of mean field theory, the only well established one to date.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction; 2. Models, order parameters, and systems; 3. Mean field theory I: Ising model, equilibrium theory; 4. Introduction to dynamics; 5. Mean field theory II: Ising dynamics; 6. Mean field theory III: vector spins; 7. Short-range interactions: low-temperature properties; 8. Beyond mean field theory; 9. Dynamics on many time scales; 10. Specific heat, sound propagation and transport properties; 11. Competition between spin glass and ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic order; 12. One-dimensional models; 13. Random fields and random anisotropy; 14. The physics of complexity; 15. A short history of spin glasses.