Random Matrix Approach to Glassy Physics --- Low Temperatures and Beyond

TL;DR

This paper introduces a random matrix approach to glassy physics that models low-temperature phases and energy configurations, providing insights into universal properties and differences from standard models.

Contribution

It presents a novel random matrix framework for glassy systems, capturing low-temperature anomalies and distinguishing universal features from model-specific ones.

Findings

Reproduces low-temperature anomalies of amorphous systems

Computes distribution of local potential energy parameters

Identifies universal versus non-universal properties

Abstract

A random matrix approach to glassy physics is introduced. It leads to a class of models which exhibit both, glassy low-temperature phases, and double-- and single-well configurations in their potential energy. The distribution of parameters characterizing the local potential energy configurations can be computed, and differ from those assumed in the standard tunneling model and its variants. Still, low-temperature anomalies characteristic of amorphous systems are reproduced, and we are able to distinguish properties which can be expected to be universal from those which cannot.