1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996466523803316

Autore

Giacomin Giambattista

Titolo

Disorder and Critical Phenomena Through Basic Probability Models [[electronic resource] ] : École d’Été de Probabilités de Saint-Flour XL – 2010 / / by Giambattista Giacomin

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berlin, Heidelberg : , : Springer Berlin Heidelberg : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2011

ISBN

3-642-21156-9

Edizione

[1st ed. 2011.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XI, 130 p. 12 illus.)

Collana

École d'Été de Probabilités de Saint-Flour, , 0721-5363 ; ; 2025

Classificazione

82B4460K3560K3782B2760K0582D30

Disciplina

519.2

Soggetti

Probabilities

Applied mathematics

Engineering mathematics

Statistical physics

Dynamical systems

Physics

Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes

Applications of Mathematics

Complex Systems

Mathematical Methods in Physics

Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1 Introduction -- 2 Homogeneous pinning systems: a class of exactly solved models -- 3 Introduction to disordered pinning models -- 4 Irrelevant disorder estimates -- 5 Relevant disorder estimates: the smoothing phenomenon -- 6 Critical point shift: the fractional moment method -- 7 The coarse graining procedure -- 8 Path properties.

Sommario/riassunto

Understanding the effect of disorder on critical phenomena is a central issue in statistical mechanics. In probabilistic terms: what happens if we perturb a system exhibiting a phase transition by introducing a random environment? The physics community has approached this very broad question by aiming at general criteria that tell whether or not the



addition of disorder changes the critical properties of a model: some of the predictions are truly striking and mathematically challenging. We approach this domain of ideas by focusing on a specific class of models, the "pinning models," for which a series of recent mathematical works has essentially put all the main predictions of the physics community on firm footing; in some cases, mathematicians have even gone beyond, settling a number of controversial issues. But the purpose of these notes, beyond treating the pinning models in full detail, is also to convey the gist, or at least the flavor, of the "overall picture," which is, in many respects, unfamiliar territory for mathematicians.