Critical exponents in mean-field classical spin systems

Abstract

For a mean-field classical spin system exhibiting a second-order phase transition in the stationary state, we obtain within the corresponding phase space evolution according to the Vlasov equation the values of the critical exponents describing power-law behavior of response to a small external field. The exponent values so obtained significantly differ from the ones obtained on the basis of an analysis of the static phase-space distribution, with no reference to dynamics. This work serves as an illustration that cautions against relying on a static approach, with no reference to the dynamical evolution, to extract critical exponent values for mean-field systems.

12 pages, 8 figures; v2: added text and figure, Accepted for publication in Physical Review E (2019); v3: published version