Spontaneous magnetization of quantum XY spin model in joint presence of quenched and annealed disorder

Abstract

We investigate equilibrium statistical properties of the quantum XY spin-1/2 model in an external magnetic field when the interaction and field parts are subjected to quenched or/and annealed disorder. The randomness present in the system are termed annealed or quenched depending on the relation between two different time scales - the time scale associated with the equilibriation of the randomness and the time of observation. Within a mean-field framework, we study the effects of disorders on spontaneous magnetization, both by perturbative and numerical techniques. Our primary interest is to understand the differences between quenched and annealed cases, and also to investigate the interplay when both of them are present in a system. We observe in particular that when interaction and field terms are respectively quenched and annealed, critical temperature for the system to magnetize in the direction parallel to the applied field does not depend on any of the disorders. Further, an annealed disordered interaction neither affects the magnetizations nor the critical temperatures. We carry out a comparative study of the different combinations of the disorders in the interaction and field terms, and point out their generic features.