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The susceptibility is defined by $\chi = \partial M/ \partial H$ and for a ferromagnet above the critical temperature $T_C$, it is given by the Curie--Weiss law, $\chi \propto (T-T_C)^{-1}$.

What happens below the critical temperature? If one takes the formula $\chi = \partial M/ \partial H$ as $$\lim_{\varepsilon \to 0} \frac {M_{H=\varepsilon} - M_{H=-\varepsilon}} {2\varepsilon},$$ this would presumably imply infinite susceptibility in the limit of an infinite lattice due to the phase transition when crossing $H=0$. (For a finite lattice, the magnetisation is smooth, but changes very abruptly, so we would presumably simply get a large value of $\chi$ dependent on the lattice size.)

Thus, does susceptibility even make sense below $T_C$ for an infinite lattice? And for a finite lattice, are there any scaling laws with respect to the lattice dimensions?

FusRoDah
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2 Answers2

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For a better description of what follows, see Sec. 4.2.3.3 of A Guide to Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics by the giant Kurt Binder.

The punchline is that it depends on whether you sample two phases or not. Usually, the finite susceptibility is the one measured by sampling only one phase. When sampling two phases, such as your case with $h\to 0$, the measured susceptibility would diverge. In the thermodynamics limit, it is a matter of which limit you take first. If you take first $h\to 0$ and then $L\to \infty$ then you are not putting the system in a given phase therefore, the system can sample two phases. However, if you set $L\to\infty$ and then $h\to 0$, you're blocking your system into one given phase.

To understand that, I'll define a probability distribution of single spin $s$ in a mixture:

$$P_L(s)=A\left(e^{-\displaystyle{L^d}\left[\dfrac{(s-m)^2}{2\chi_{\rm pure} T}-\dfrac{hs}{T}\right]}+e^{-\displaystyle{L^d}\left[\dfrac{(s+m)^2}{2\chi_{\rm pure} T}-\dfrac{hs}{T}\right]}\right),$$ away from the critical point, this should be a good description. What it tells you is that, for an ensemble of system. You have a bimodal distribution of spin $s$ around $\pm m$ (the mean field solution of ising for example) with a single phase susceptibility $\chi_{\rm pure}$ (because you are just adding two "independent" phases). On top of that, you add a magnetic field $h$ making things aligned.

From this you can compute the susceptibility of the mixed phase (which is equivalently given by the variance of $s$ from $P_L$ from the fluctuation dissipation theorem): $$\chi_{\rm mixed}=\dfrac{\partial\langle s\rangle}{\partial h}=\beta L^d\left(\langle s\rangle^2-\langle s\rangle^2\right)=\chi_{\rm pure}+L^d\dfrac{\beta m^2}{\cosh^2\left(\beta hm L^d\right)}.$$

Now, you find the interesting limits:

$$\lim_{L\to \infty}\lim_{h\to 0}\chi_{\rm mixed}=\chi_{\rm pure}+L^d\beta m^2,$$ which diverges due to the bimodality of the distribution, while: $$\lim_{h\to 0}\lim_{L\to \infty}\chi_{\rm mixed}=\chi_{\rm pure}$$ does not diverge and converge to the value of the susceptibility found for the pure phase. As explained above, this is understood from the fact that $\lim_{h\to 0}\lim_{L\to \infty}$ selects a single phase by symmetry breaking while for $\lim_{L\to \infty}\lim_{h\to 0}$ both phases are equally sampled. This last case corresponds to your definition (because you take into account the $\uparrow$ and $\downarrow$ states) and hence the divergence you observe. With your computations, a way to obtain a single phase would be to restrict yourself at $h\to 0^\pm$.


Concerning the scaling, the above works far from the critical point due to the Gaussian assumption. Closer to the critical point, the renormalization group provides an other answer. It works for both the mixed state or the single phase susceptibility.

The (singular part of the) susceptibility must be a homogeneous function of $h$, $t$ and also the system size: $L$ (which sets another relevant length):

$$\chi(t, h, L)\propto L^{-\gamma/\nu}\mathcal F(tL^{1/\nu}, hL^{(\beta+\gamma)/\nu}),$$ with $\mathcal F$ a non-universal function.

The exponents are chosen such that the correct exponents are recovered in the thermodynamics limit. For example at $h=0$ and for large system size, in the critical region, we must obtain $\chi(t, h=0, L\to\infty)\propto t^{-\gamma}$. Indeed, we obtain this scaling (the only possible choice to eliminate the $L$ dependence being $\mathcal F(u, 0, \infty)\propto u^{-\gamma}$):

$$\chi(t, 0, L\to\infty)\propto L^{-\gamma/\nu}(tL^{1/\nu})^{-\gamma}\propto t^{-\gamma}.$$

It also tells you how the susceptibility grows at the critical point: $$\chi(t\to 0, 0, L)\propto L^{-\gamma/\nu},$$ which is infinite at infinite $L$. For the mixed susceptibility, you will also grow infinitely with this scaling below the critical point for increasing system size.

Syrocco
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More precisely, the tricky part is to define susceptibility exactly at the transition line $H=0$ and $T<T_c$. Indeed, you have a well defined limit for $T<T_c$ of $\chi(H,T)$ as $H\to0^\pm$. In fact they both agree: $$ \chi(H \to 0^+,T) = \chi(H \to 0^-,T) $$ At $H=0$, $\chi$ is infinite because it is not intensive anymore, but rather extensive. Therefore, if $N$ is the number of particle/lattice size, the quantity that has a thermodynamic limit is $\chi/N$, instead of just $\chi$.

You can check this explicitly for the Curie Weiss model. Recall that the free energy $F$ is extensive and in the thermodynamic limit, the intensive version has a well defined limit: $$ \frac FN = -\frac12M^2+T\left[\left(\frac{1+M}2\right)\ln(1+M)+\left(\frac{1-M}2\right)\ln(1-M)\right] $$ with the magnetic "free enthalpy": $$ \frac GN = \inf_M(F-HM) $$ The magnetisation is given implicitly by: $$ H = -M+T\text{arctanh }M $$ so that: $$ \chi = \frac1{-1+\frac T{1-M^2}} $$ In particular, for $T<T_c$, $\chi$ is continuous, but has a slope discontinuity at $H=0$. The common value at $H=0$ corresponds to $\chi(H=0^\pm)$, not the true value of $\chi(H=0)$. For the latter, let $M_s$ be the positive root of: $$ M = \tanh(M/T) $$ i.e. the spontaneous magnetization, then: $$ \frac{\chi(H=0)}N = \frac{M_s^2}T $$ which you can check by letting $N$ finite and sending it to infinity.

Statistically, this follows from the failure of the central limit theorem. You would expect intensive variables to converge almost surely (law of large numbers) with $N^{-1/2}$ gaussian fluctuations (central limit theorem). Using the statistical interpretation of susceptibility: $$ \chi = N\frac{\Delta M^2}T $$ you can therefore directly deduce the previous formula.

In fact, you can recover a smooth transition in the thermodynamic limit if you accordingly rescale $H$ in the thermodynamic limit, just define $h = \frac{NH}{T}$. In the thermodynamic limit, you recover a smooth transition: $$ M = M_s\tanh(M_sh) $$ and for $h\to0$, you recover the previous linearised result. This is because the transition merely captures statistics of the macroscopic fluctuation of $M$. It is simply a Bernoulli equiprobably distributed between $\pm M_S$. Notice that it matches the previous formula: $$ M(h\to\pm\infty) = M(H\to 0^\pm) $$ Correspondingly, the appropriately rescaled susceptibility satisfies: $$ \frac\chi N = \frac{M_s^2}{T\cosh^2(M_sh)} $$

To summarise, the convergence of the magnetisation curve for $T<T_c$ is not uniform. You have two regimes for $H=O(N^{-1})$ and for $H = O(N^0)$. The appropriate scaling in both cases gives a smooth curve as expected.

Hope this helps.

LPZ
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