Past exam of the theoretical physics I course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 1 / 4 / b / Solution

Differentiation gives $f^{\prime }(m)=2m(b+2d{m}^2)$. For $b>0$ the origin is the global minimum; for $b<0$, $m=\sqrt{-b/(2d)}$ has $f^{\prime \prime }=-4b>0$ and $f=-b^2/(4d)<f(0)$. Therefore, close enough to the transition for the quartic expansion to apply,The order parameter approaches zero continuously with mean-field critical exponent $\beta =1/2$: the transition is continuous. In the aligned phase a particular direction is chosen. The vector-spin rotation symmetry is spontaneously broken from $SO(3)$ to $SO(2)$, or from $O(3)$ to $O(2)$ including reflections. The manifold of vector order parameter directions is a sphere, so this is not just a two-state sign choice.^[ref]

The plot uses illustrative $d=1/2$ and temperature measured in units of $T_c$. A unit-spin average must satisfy $m\le 1$; if the quartic model is used literally far below the transition, its constrained minimum is $\min \{1,\sqrt{(T_c-T)/(2d{T}_c)}\}$. In practice the near-transition expansion is not a controlled prediction of deep low-temperature saturation. Also, a finite zero-field statistical ensemble that averages all directions has $⟨\mathbf{m}⟩=0$ even below $T_c$; the curve describes the magnitude in a selected ordered state, obtained by appropriate boundary conditions or the thermodynamic limit before removing a small magnetic field.