Nonreciprocal Disorder Prevents Zero-Temperature Freezing in a Ferromagnet

Abstract

Nonreciprocal interactions underpin diverse nonequilibrium phenomena, yet the effects of quenched nonreciprocity in extended systems remain largely unexplored. We study a $2d$ Ising model with randomly distributed nonreciprocal bonds at density $p$, finding a continuous nonequilibrium transition down to $T=0$ with finite $p_c$. A gauge-invariance argument yields $p_c(T)\le 1/2$, and mean-field theory predicts a qualitatively correct phase diagram. Unlike equilibrium disordered models, the zero-temperature dynamics remains active, with athermal rare-region reversals and logarithmic "activated" coarsening.

arXiv comment8 pages, 5 figures, Supplemental Material included