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Random Energy Model
In the statistical physics of disordered systems, the random energy model is a toy model of a system with quenched disorder, such as a spin glass, having a first-order phase transition. It concerns the statistics of a collection of N spins (''i.e.'' degrees of freedom \boldsymbol\sigma\equiv \_^N that can take one of two possible values \sigma_i=\pm 1) so that the number of possible states for the system is 2^N. The energies of such states are independent and identically distributed Gaussian random variables E_x \sim \mathcal(0,N/2) with zero mean and a variance of N/2. Many properties of this model can be computed exactly. Its simplicity makes this model suitable for pedagogical introduction of concepts like quenched disorder and replica symmetry. Comparison with other disordered systems The r-spin infinite-range model, in which all r-spin sets interact with a random, independent, identically distributed interaction constant, becomes the random energy model in a suitably defined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statistical Physics
Statistical physics is a branch of physics that evolved from a foundation of statistical mechanics, which uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. It can describe a wide variety of fields with an inherently stochastic nature. Its applications include many problems in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, and neuroscience. Its main purpose is to clarify the properties of matter in aggregate, in terms of physical laws governing atomic motion. Statistical mechanics develop the phenomenological results of thermodynamics from a probabilistic examination of the underlying microscopic systems. Historically, one of the first topics in physics where statistical methods were applied was the field of classical mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or objects when subjected to a force. Scope Statistical physics explains and quanti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order And Disorder
In physics, the terms order and disorder designate the presence or absence of some symmetry or correlation in a many-particle system. In condensed matter physics, systems typically are ordered at low temperatures; upon heating, they undergo one or several phase transitions into less ordered states. Examples for such an order-disorder transition are: * the melting of ice: solid-liquid transition, loss of crystalline order; * the demagnetization of iron by heating above the Curie temperature: ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition, loss of magnetic order. The degree of freedom that is ordered or disordered can be translational (crystalline ordering), rotational (ferroelectric ordering), or a spin state (magnetic ordering). The order can consist either in a full crystalline space group symmetry, or in a correlation. Depending on how the correlations decay with distance, one speaks of long range order or short range order. If a disordered state is not in thermodynamic equilibrium, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toy Model
In the modeling of physics, a toy model is a deliberately simplistic model with many details removed so that it can be used to explain a mechanism concisely. It is also useful in a description of the fuller model. * In "toy" mathematical models, this is usually done by reducing or extending the number of dimensions or reducing the number of fields/variables or restricting them to a particular symmetric form. * In Macroeconomics modelling, are a class of models, some may be only loosely based on theory, others more explicitly so. But they have the same purpose. They allow for a quick first pass at some question, and present the essence of the answer from a more complicated model or from a class of models. For the researcher, they may come before writing a more elaborate model, or after, once the elaborate model has been worked out. Blanchard list of examples includes IS–LM model, the Mundell–Fleming model, the RBC model, and the New Keynesian model. * In "toy" physical des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quenched Disorder
In physics, the terms order and disorder designate the presence or absence of some symmetry or correlation in a many-particle system. In condensed matter physics, systems typically are ordered at low temperatures; upon heating, they undergo one or several phase transitions into less ordered states. Examples for such an order-disorder transition are: * the melting of ice: solid-liquid transition, loss of crystalline order; * the demagnetization of iron by heating above the Curie temperature: ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition, loss of magnetic order. The degree of freedom that is ordered or disordered can be translational ( crystalline ordering), rotational (ferroelectric ordering), or a spin state (magnetic ordering). The order can consist either in a full crystalline space group symmetry, or in a correlation. Depending on how the correlations decay with distance, one speaks of long range order or short range order. If a disordered state is not in thermodynamic equilibrium, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spin Glass
In condensed matter physics, a spin glass is a magnetic state characterized by randomness, besides cooperative behavior in freezing of spins at a temperature called 'freezing temperature' ''Tf''. In ferromagnetic solids, component atoms' magnetic spins all align in the same direction. Spin glass when contrasted with a ferromagnet is defined as " disordered" magnetic state in which spins are aligned randomly or without a regular pattern and the couplings too are random. The term "glass" comes from an analogy between the ''magnetic'' disorder in a spin glass and the ''positional'' disorder of a conventional, chemical glass, e.g., a window glass. In window glass or any amorphous solid the atomic bond structure is highly irregular; in contrast, a crystal has a uniform pattern of atomic bonds. In ferromagnetic solids, magnetic spins all align in the same direction; this is analogous to a crystal's lattice-based structure. The individual atomic bonds in a spin glass are a mixt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phase Transition
In chemistry, thermodynamics, and other related fields, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas, and in rare cases, plasma. A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties. During a phase transition of a given medium, certain properties of the medium change as a result of the change of external conditions, such as temperature or pressure. This can be a discontinuous change; for example, a liquid may become gas upon heating to its boiling point, resulting in an abrupt change in volume. The identification of the external conditions at which a transformation occurs defines the phase transition point. Types of phase transition At the phase transition point for a substance, for instance the boiling point, the two phases involved - liquid and vapor, have id ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent And Identically Distributed Random Variables
In probability theory and statistics, a collection of random variables is independent and identically distributed if each random variable has the same probability distribution as the others and all are mutually independent. This property is usually abbreviated as ''i.i.d.'', ''iid'', or ''IID''. IID was first defined in statistics and finds application in different fields such as data mining and signal processing. Introduction In statistics, we commonly deal with random samples. A random sample can be thought of as a set of objects that are chosen randomly. Or, more formally, it’s “a sequence of independent, identically distributed (IID) random variables”. In other words, the terms ''random sample'' and ''IID'' are basically one and the same. In statistics, we usually say “random sample,” but in probability it’s more common to say “IID.” * Identically Distributed means that there are no overall trends–the distribution doesn’t fluctuate and all items in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random Variable
A random variable (also called random quantity, aleatory variable, or stochastic variable) is a mathematical formalization of a quantity or object which depends on random events. It is a mapping or a function from possible outcomes (e.g., the possible upper sides of a flipped coin such as heads H and tails T) in a sample space (e.g., the set \) to a measurable space, often the real numbers (e.g., \ in which 1 corresponding to H and -1 corresponding to T). Informally, randomness typically represents some fundamental element of chance, such as in the roll of a dice; it may also represent uncertainty, such as measurement error. However, the interpretation of probability is philosophically complicated, and even in specific cases is not always straightforward. The purely mathematical analysis of random variables is independent of such interpretational difficulties, and can be based upon a rigorous axiomatic setup. In the formal mathematical language of measure theory, a random ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Replica Trick
In the statistical physics of spin glasses and other systems with quenched disorder, the replica trick is a mathematical technique based on the application of the formula: \ln Z=\lim_ or: \ln Z = \lim_ \frac where Z is most commonly the partition function, or a similar thermodynamic function. It is typically used to simplify the calculation of \overline, reducing the problem to calculating the disorder average \overline where n is assumed to be an integer. This is physically equivalent to averaging over n copies or ''replicas'' of the system, hence the name. The crux of the replica trick is that while the disorder averaging is done assuming n to be an integer, to recover the disorder-averaged logarithm one must send n continuously to zero. This apparent contradiction at the heart of the replica trick has never been formally resolved, however in all cases where the replica method can be compared with other exact solutions, the methods lead to the same results. (To prove that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spin Glass
In condensed matter physics, a spin glass is a magnetic state characterized by randomness, besides cooperative behavior in freezing of spins at a temperature called 'freezing temperature' ''Tf''. In ferromagnetic solids, component atoms' magnetic spins all align in the same direction. Spin glass when contrasted with a ferromagnet is defined as " disordered" magnetic state in which spins are aligned randomly or without a regular pattern and the couplings too are random. The term "glass" comes from an analogy between the ''magnetic'' disorder in a spin glass and the ''positional'' disorder of a conventional, chemical glass, e.g., a window glass. In window glass or any amorphous solid the atomic bond structure is highly irregular; in contrast, a crystal has a uniform pattern of atomic bonds. In ferromagnetic solids, magnetic spins all align in the same direction; this is analogous to a crystal's lattice-based structure. The individual atomic bonds in a spin glass are a mixt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joint Probability Distribution
Given two random variables that are defined on the same probability space, the joint probability distribution is the corresponding probability distribution on all possible pairs of outputs. The joint distribution can just as well be considered for any given number of random variables. The joint distribution encodes the marginal distributions, i.e. the distributions of each of the individual random variables. It also encodes the conditional probability distributions, which deal with how the outputs of one random variable are distributed when given information on the outputs of the other random variable(s). In the formal mathematical setup of measure theory, the joint distribution is given by the pushforward measure, by the map obtained by pairing together the given random variables, of the sample space's probability measure. In the case of real-valued random variables, the joint distribution, as a particular multivariate distribution, may be expressed by a multivariate cumulat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
