Effective potential in glassy systems: theory and simulations

TL;DR

This paper investigates the phase diagram of glassy systems with attractive coupling, revealing a first-order transition between localized and delocalized phases ending at a critical point, supported by simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for the phase behavior of coupled glassy systems and confirms the scenario through numerical simulations.

Findings

Identification of a first-order transition line between phases.

Existence of a critical point terminating the coexistence line.

Numerical evidence supporting the theoretical phase diagram.

Abstract

We study the phase diagram of glassy systems in presence of an attractive coupling among real replicas. We find competition among a localized and a delocalized phase, that are separated by a coexistence line as in ordinary first order phase transitions. The coexistence line terminates in a critical point. We present numerical simulations for binary glasses in which show that this scenario is realized.