Past exam of the thermal and statistical physics course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / Paper 1 / 4

For $H=0$ and $a>0$, $F(M)=a{M}^2/2+b{M}^4/4$ is a symmetric single well. Its only minimum isThe zero is relative to the smooth background omitted from the supplied expansion.

For $H=0$ and $a<0$, the free energy is a symmetric double well. The central stationary point is a maximum; the two stable minima areThese are the magnetisations of the two symmetry-broken phases, selected by an infinitesimal field or a boundary condition. An exactly symmetric finite-system ensemble can have $⟨M⟩=0$ by averaging both wells; that does not make the central maximum a stable homogeneous phase.

For $a>0$ and $H>0$, the field tilts the single well toward positive M. Since $F^{\prime \prime }=a+3b{M}^2>0$ everywhere, there is exactly one minimum, at the positive solution $M_H$ of the equation of state. At that solution,This follows by eliminating ${\mu }_{0}H=a{M}_H+b{M}_H^3$ from F. At weak field, $M_H\simeq {\mu }_{0}H/a$ and $F_{\min }\simeq -{\mu }_0^2{H}^2/(2a)$.

At zero applied field, time-reversal symmetry interchanges $M$ and $-M$ without changing the free energy, so the analytic expansion contains only even powers. The term $-{\mu }_{0}HM$ breaks this symmetry at fixed nonzero H. Stationarity and local stability requireFor $T>T_c$ at small field, the cubic term is higher order and $M\simeq {\mu }_{0}H/a(T)$. Thus the susceptibility as defined in the question isThe three requested free-energy sketches and their minima are given separately above.

For the plotted isotherms, divide the equation of state by nonzero M and rearrange:This is an Arrott plot: its slope determines b, and the isotherm through the origin identifies the mean-field Curie temperature.^[ref] Under the paper's stated uniform-field Landau model, use H as supplied on its axis.

The ordinate unit is $(10^4\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}{)}^2=10^8{\mathrm{A}}^2{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$. Reading the original graph gives slopes about $0.076$–$0.080$ ordinate units per unit H/M, so the physical slope is approximately $7.8\times 10^6{\mathrm{A}}^2{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$. ConsequentlyApproximate horizontal intercepts and the corresponding $a={\mu }_0(H/M{)}_{M^2=0}$ are:

The sign change brackets the transition between 19 and 25 K. A linear fit of $a(T)=\alpha (T-T_c)$ across the four read-offs gives approximately $\alpha =4.8\times 10^{-6}\mathrm{H}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ andInterpolating only the two nearest isotherms also gives about 22 K. These are graph estimates, not exact recovered measurements.

Below $T_c$ at zero field, the stable branches have $M_0^2=-a/b$. Substitution gives the free-energy density relative to the omitted smooth background:The equilibrium excess heat-capacity density is $c_H=-T{\partial }_T^2{F}_{\min }=T{\alpha }^2/(2b)$ below $T_c$ and zero above it. ThereforeThe all-isotherm linear fit gives about $1.5\times 10^3\mathrm{J}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$. Estimating the slope only between the 19 K and 25 K curves instead gives $\alpha \simeq 6.9\times 10^{-6}\mathrm{H}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ and a jump near $3\times 10^3\mathrm{J}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$. The lines are not exactly parallel and the intercepts are not perfectly linear in T, so a jump of order a few $10^3\mathrm{J}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ is supported; finer precision is not. This is per volume because F is a density; no sample volume is given to convert it to a total heat capacity.

If $b<0$, the quartic truncation is unbounded below. Add a positive sixth-order term $c{M}^6/6$ with $c>0$. At zero field the coexistence conditions giveThus the zero-field transition is generically first order, with a discontinuous spontaneous magnetisation and possible metastability. It occurs before the quadratic coefficient reaches zero. The case $b=0$ is the tricritical boundary of this mean-field model; no value of c is invented.