English

Isometric fluctuation relations for equilibrium states with broken symmetry

Statistical Mechanics 2015-06-23 v1 Soft Condensed Matter

Abstract

We derive a set of isometric fluctuation relations, which constrain the order parameter fluctuations in finite-size systems at equilibrium and in the presence of a broken symmetry. These relations are exact and should apply generally to many condensed-matter physics systems. Here, we establish these relations for magnetic systems and nematic liquid crystals in a symmetry-breaking external field, and we illustrate them on the Curie-Weiss and the XYXY models. Our relations also have implications for spontaneous symmetry breaking, which are discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1411.6163,
  title  = {Isometric fluctuation relations for equilibrium states with broken symmetry},
  author = {D. Lacoste and P. Gaspard},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1411.6163},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

9 pages, 4 figures, in press for Phys. Rev. Lett. to appear there in Dec. 2014