Anomalous elasticity in a disordered layered XY model

TL;DR

This paper uses large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate the existence of an anomalously elastic intermediate phase in a disordered layered XY model, characterized by unique stiffness and susceptibility properties.

Contribution

It provides numerical evidence for a theoretically predicted sliding phase in a three-dimensional disordered layered XY model, highlighting its unique elastic and magnetic properties.

Findings

Perpendicular spin-wave stiffness vanishes in the intermediate phase.

Parallel stiffness and magnetization remain nonzero in the intermediate phase.

Susceptibility exhibits unconventional finite-size scaling.

Abstract

We investigate the effects of layered quenched disorder on the behavior of planar magnets, superfluids, and superconductors by performing large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations of a three-dimensional randomly layered XY model. Our data provide numerical evidence for the recently predicted anomalously elastic (sliding) intermediate phase between the conventional high-temperature and low-temperature phases. In this intermediate phase, the spin-wave stiffness perpendicular to the layers vanishes in the thermodynamic limit while the stiffness parallel to the layers as well as the spontaneous magnetization are nonzero. In addition, the susceptibility displays unconventional finite-size scaling properties. We compare our Monte-Carlo results with the theoretical predictions, and we discuss possible experiments in ultracold atomic gases, layered superconductors and in nanostructures.