Disordered systems are statistical mechanics models in random environments. This lecture notes volume concerns the equilibrium properties of a few carefully chosen examples of disordered Ising models. The approach is that of probability theory and mathematical physics, but the subject matter is of interest also to condensed matter physicists, material scientists, applied mathematicians and theoretical computer scientists. (The two main types of systems considered are disordered ferromagnets and spin glasses. The emphasis is on questions concerning the number of ground states (at zero temperature) or the number of pure Gibbs states (at nonzero temperature). A recurring theme is that these questions are connected to interesting issues concerning percolation and related models of geometric/combinatorial probability. One question treated at length concerns the low temperature behavior of short-range spin glasses: whether and in what sense Parisi's analysis of the meanfield (or "infinite-range") model is relevant. Closely related is the more general conceptual issue of how to approach the thermodynamic (i.e., infinite volume) limit in systems which may have many complex competing states. This issue has been addressed in recent joint work by the author and Dan Stein and the book provides a mathematically coherent presentation of their approach.)

Disordered systems are statistical mechanics models in random environments. This lecture notes volume concerns the equilibrium properties of a few carefully chosen examples of disordered Ising models. The approach is that of probability theory and mathematical physics, but the subject matter is of interest also to condensed matter physicists, material scientists, applied mathematicians and theoretical computer scientists. (The two main types of systems considered are disordered ferromagnets and spin glasses. The emphasis is on questions concerning the number of ground states (at zero temperature) or the number of pure Gibbs states (at nonzero temperature). A recurring theme is that these questions are connected to interesting issues concerning percolation and related models of geometric/combinatorial probability. One question treated at length concerns the low temperature behavior of short-range spin glasses: whether and in what sense Parisi's analysis of the meanfield (or "infinite-range") model is relevant. Closely related is the more general conceptual issue of how to approach the thermodynamic (i.e., infinite volume) limit in systems which may have many complex competing states. This issue has been addressed in recent joint work by the author and Dan Stein and the book provides a mathematically coherent presentation of their approach.)

Disordered systems are ubiquitous in nature and their study remains a profound and challenging subject of current research. Ideas and methods from the physics of Disordered systems have been fruitfully applied to several fields ranging from computer science to neuroscience. This book contains a selection of lectures delivered at the 'SERC School on Disordered Systems', spanning topics from classic results to frontier areas of research in this field. Spin glasses, disordered Ising models, quantum disordered systems, structural glasses, dilute magnets, interfaces in random field systems and disordered vortex systems are among the topics discussed in the text, in chapters authored by active researchers in the field, including Bikas Chakrabarti, Arnab Das, Deepak Kumar, Gautam Menon, G. Ravikumar, Purusattam Ray, Srikanth Sastry and Prabodh Shukla. This book provides a gentle and comprehensive introduction to the physics of disordered systems and is aimed at graduate students and young scientists either working in or intending to enter this exciting field. It should also serve as a general reference for students and practicing researchers alike.

Publisher Description

Fractals and disordered systems have recently become the focus of intense interest in research. This book discusses in great detail the effects of disorder on mesoscopic scales (fractures, aggregates, colloids, surfaces and interfaces, glasses and polymers) and presents tools to describe them in mathematical language. A substantial part is devoted to the development of scaling theories based on fractal concepts. In ten chapters written by leading experts in the field, the reader is introduced to basic concepts and techniques in disordered systems and is led to the forefront of current research. This second edition has been substantially revised and updates the literature in this important field.

A self-contained, mathematical introduction to the driving ideas in equilibrium statistical mechanics, studying important models in detail.

This self-contained textbook aims to introduce the physics of structurally disordered condensed systems at the level of advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The topics discussed include the geometry and symmetries of the building blocks commonly used to obtain atomic structures, the various kinds of disorder, the phenomenology and the main theories of the glass transition, investigation of the structure of amorphous systems, the dependence of system structure on its dimensions (clusters), and the case of positional order in the absence of translational order (quasicrystals).