A nontrivial critical fixed point for replica-symmetry-breaking transitions

Abstract

The transformation of the free-energy landscape from smooth to hierarchical is one of the richest features of mean-field disordered systems. A well-studied example is the de Almeida-Thouless transition for spin glasses in a magnetic field, and a similar phenomenon--the Gardner transition--has recently been predicted for structural glasses. The existence of these replica-symmetry-breaking phase transitions has, however, long been questioned below their upper critical dimension, d_u=6. Here, we obtain evidence for the existence of these transitions in d<d_u using a two-loop calculation. Because the critical fixed point is found in the strong-coupling regime, we corroborate the result by resumming the perturbative series with inputs from a three-loop calculation. Our analysis offers a straightforward resolution of the long-lasting controversy surrounding phase transitions in finite-dimensional disordered systems.