Fluctuations of the free energy in the mixed $p$-spin models with external field

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fluctuations of free energy in mixed p-spin models with external fields, showing non-superconcentration and establishing a central limit theorem with explicit variance formulas.

Contribution

It demonstrates that external fields prevent superconcentration of free energy and provides a CLT with explicit variance for certain spin glass models.

Findings

Free energy does not superconcentrate with external field.

Central limit theorem established for models without odd p-spin interactions.

Explicit formula for the limiting variance of free energy.

Abstract

We show that the free energy in the mixed $p$-spin models of spin glasses does not superconcentrate in the presence of external field, which means that its variance is of the order suggested by the Poincar\'e inequality. This complements the result of Chatterjee who showed that the free energy superconcentrates when there is no external field. For models without odd $p$-spin interactions for $p\geq 3$, we prove the central limit theorem for the free energy at any temperature and give an explicit formula for the limiting variance. Although we only deal with the case of Ising spins, all our results can be extended to the spherical models as well.