What Makes a System 'Frustrated' in Spin Glasses and Other Physical Systems?

[mkrems]

this term is often used when discussing spin glasses, etc.

 

[Gokul43201]

Frustration is typically the result of having a highly degenerate ground state. Consider a system of 3 spin-1/2 particles on the vertices of a triangle, with a pairwise anti-ferromagnetic interaction. This system has a triply degenerate ground state (1u 2u 3d or 1u 2d 3u or 1d 2u 3u) and is thus said to be frustrated. The concept can be extended from there to a triangular lattice, or a cubic lattice with different interactions and further to disordered, amorphous materials. A spin glass is a frustrated spin system that exhibits the weird, long-time dynamics of glassy systems.

 

[charng]

A frustrated system is a physical system in which the interactions between its components cannot be simultaneously satisfied, leading to a state of frustration. This can result in complex and unpredictable behavior, making it difficult to fully understand and predict the system's properties. One example of a frustrated system is a spin glass, where the magnetic moments of the atoms within a material are unable to align in a single direction due to competing interactions. This leads to a disordered and frustrated state, making it challenging to study and manipulate the material. Understanding and controlling frustrated systems is a key area of research in condensed matter physics, with potential applications in fields such as materials science and information technology.