Comment on "General Method to Determine Replica Symmetry Breaking Transitions"

TL;DR

This paper critiques a recent method for detecting replica symmetry breaking in spin glasses, arguing it is valid for some models but does not conclusively prove RSB in short-range spin glasses.

Contribution

It clarifies the applicability of a new method for studying RSB, emphasizing its limitations in certain models of short-range spin glasses.

Findings

The method is useful for systems lacking time reversal symmetry.

The claim that the method proves RSB in short-range spin glasses is incorrect.

The critique clarifies the scope of the method's validity.

Abstract

In a recent letter Marinari et al [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1698 (1998)] introduced a new method to study spin glass transitions and argued that by probing replica symmetry (RS) as opposed to time reversal symmetry (TRS), their method unambiguously shows that replica symmetry breaking (RSB) occurs in short-range spin glasses. In this comment we show that while the new method is indeed useful for studying transitions in systems where TRS is absent (such as the p-spin model studied by them), the conclusion that it shows the existence of RSB in short-range spin glasses is wrong.