Phase transitions in highly constrained spin systems: Ordering from the Coulomb phase.

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• Prof. John Chalker, University of Oxford
• Thursday 11 October 2007, 14:15-15:45
• TCM Seminar Room, Cavendish Laboratory.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Joe Bhaseen.

Many classical, geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets have macroscopically degenerate ground states. In a class of three-dimensional systems, the set of degenerate ground states has power-law correlations and is an example of a Coulomb phase, with long-wavelength fluctuations described by a Gaussian solenoidal field. A perturbation applied to the system can lift the degeneracy and induce a phase transition. Because of the power-law correlations (or, equivalently, the solenoidal nature of the degrees of freedom), phase transitions of this kind are unusual.

In this seminar, I aim to give a straightforward introduction to the area and to discuss these phase transitions from several points of view.

This talk is part of the TCM Blackboard Series series.

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