Critical behavior and out-of-equilibrium dynamics of a two-dimensional Ising model with dynamic couplings

We study the critical behavior and the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of a two-dimensional Ising model with non-static interactions. In our model, bonds are dynamically changing according to a majority rule depending on the set of closest neighbors of each spin pair, which prevents the system from ordering in a full ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic state. Using a parallel-tempering Monte Carlo algorithm, we find that the model undergoes a continuous phase transition at finite temperature, which belongs to the Ising universality class. The properties of the bond structure and the ground-state entropy are also studied. Finally, we analyze the out-of-equilibrium dynamics which displays typical glassy characteristics at a temperature well below the critical one.