English

Probability distribution of persistent spins in a Ising chain

Statistical Mechanics 2009-11-10 v1

Abstract

We study the probability distribution Q(n,t)Q(n,t) of n(t)n(t), the fraction of spins unflipped till time tt, in a Ising chain with ferromagnetic interactions. The distribution shows a peak at n=nmaxn=n_{max} and in general is non-Gaussian and asymmetric in nature. However for n>nmaxn>n_{max} it shows a Gaussian decay. A data collapse can be obtained when Q(n,t)/LαQ(n,t)/L^{\alpha} versus (nnmax)Lβ(n-n_{max})L^{\beta} is plotted with α0.45\alpha \sim 0.45 and β0.6\beta \sim 0.6. Interestingly, nmax(t)n_{max}(t) shows a different behaviour compared to <n(t)>=P(t)<n(t)> = P(t), the persistence probability which follows the well-known behaviour P(t)tθP(t)\sim t^{-\theta}. A quantitative estimate of the asymmetry and non-Gaussian nature of Q(n,t)Q(n,t) is made by calculating its skewness and kurtosis.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0406154,
  title  = {Probability distribution of persistent spins in a Ising chain},
  author = {Pratap Kumar Das and Parongama Sen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0406154},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

4 pages, submitted to J. Phys A