FRUSTRATION, RANDOMNESS, AND THE SPIN-GLASS TRANSITION

Numerical simulations are reported on a periodic fully frustrated Ising system in three dimensions and on the same system after the introduction of disorder; with less than 10% random interactions the system is transformed into a spin glass. The striking differences in the physical properties of the system with and without disorder are discussed in terms of phase-space geometry. This approach provides us with a general scenario that can explain why in spin glasses one observes a broad featureless specific-heat maximum at a temperature exceeding the freezing temperature.