The three dimensional Heisenberg spin glass under a weak random anisotropy

TL;DR

This study investigates how weak random anisotropy affects the phase transition in a three-dimensional Heisenberg spin glass, revealing a different universality class and challenging existing theories.

Contribution

It provides the first finite size scaling analysis of the 3D Heisenberg spin glass with weak anisotropy up to size L=32, showing significant impact on phase transition behavior.

Findings

Anisotropies prevent divergence of chiral-glass susceptibility.

The anisotropic model belongs to a different universality class than the isotropic one.

Results question the validity of the chirality scenario in spin glasses.

Abstract

We perform a finite size scaling study of the three-dimensional Heisenberg spin glass in the presence of weak random anisotropic interactions, up to sizes L=32. Anisotropies have a major impact on the phase transition. The chiral-glass susceptibility does not diverge, due to a large anomalous dimension. It follows that the anisotropic spin-glass belongs to a Universality Class different from the isotropic model, which questions the applicability of the chirality scenario.