Condensation of helium in aerogels and athermal dynamics of the Random Field Ising Model

Abstract

High resolution measurements reveal that condensation isotherms of ${}^4$He in a silica aerogel become discontinuous below a critical temperature. We show that this behaviour does not correspond to an equilibrium phase transition modified by the disorder induced by the aerogel structure, but to the disorder-driven critical point predicted for the athermal out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the Random Field Ising Model. Our results evidence the key role of non-equilibrium effects in the phase transitions of disordered systems.

5 p + suppl. material

References in corpus (5)

• Universality in the three-dimensional random-field Ising model
• Evidence for a disorder driven phase transition in the condensation of 4He in aerogels
• Fluids in porous media: The case of neutral walls
• A temperature-controlled device for volumetric measurements of Helium adsorption in porous media
• Critical behavior of the liquid gas transition of 4 He confined in a silica aerogel

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Spinodals with Disorder: from Avalanches in Random Magnets to Glassy Dynamics
• Finite-dimensional vestige of spinodal criticality above the dynamical glass transition
• Thermal vestiges of avalanches in the driven random field Ising model
• Inverse transitions and disappearance of the λ-line in the asymmetric random field Ising and Blume-Capel models