# 1 𝑟⁢(𝑁,𝐵,0.15)/√𝑁 versus 𝐵.

Houdayer and Martin reply:

Marinari, Parisi, and Zuliani have studied the Edwards-Anderson spin glass model at a field $`B=0.4`$. They had previously studied the four-dimensional case  and in their comment  to our paper  they present results for the $`d=3`$ case using the same techniques. The cornerstone of their approach is an out-of-equilibrium estimate of $`q_{\text{min}}`$. They find this quantity to be different from the (equilibrium) mean value of $`q`$, giving evidence for replica symmetry breaking (RSB). However we see a danger in relying on out-of-equilibrium measurements: metastable states that do not contribute to the (equilibrium) $`P(q)`$ (because they have excess free energies diverging with system size) may very well contribute to out-of-equilibrium overlaps.

Since we have some doubts about the validity of out-of-equilibrium measurements of $`q_{\text{min}}`$, let us consider the evidence for RSB in the presence of a field using equilibrium measurements. Most work has been performed in $`d=4`$ where there is a clear signal of a growing spin glass susceptibility. Less clear is whether this quantity actually diverges at $`T>0`$ and $`B>0`$: fits are compatible with such a divergence but it is difficult to conclude that there is a finite temperature transition. Measurements of higher order cumulants of $`P(q)`$ are very disappointing: the cumulants do not cross as they do in zero field, there is no clear pattern in the data, and in fact there is no sensible way to extrapolate the data to larger sizes. Furthermore, $`P(q)`$ has a long tail at $`q<0`$ that cannot be there in the thermodynamic limit, and there is no hint yet of a delta function peak at $`q=q_{\text{min}}`$. The situation in $`d=3`$ is even more ambiguous because the evidence for a diverging spin glass susceptibility is much weaker. Nevertheless, since simulations of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model run into similar difficulties, one need not conclude that such results disfavor a RSB scenario in finite dimensions. But it is also fair to say that there is today no substantial evidence via equilibrium measurements for an Almeida-Thouless transition line in $`d=3`$.

Part of the difficulty stems from the nearby critical point ($`T_c,B=0`$) that leads to severe finite size effects; this may explain the non crossing of the Binder cumulants for different size lattices. Staying away from that critical point requires lowering the temperature, leading to insurmountable difficulties for thermalizing the lattices. Our approach bypasses this problem by taking the zero temperature limit and finding ground states. Doing so, we found that the finite size effects for the mean field model were very small as shown in figure 3 of our paper. A comparison to what occurs in simulations at finite temperature of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model suggests that the ($`T_c`$, $`B=0`$) critical point is quite far away from where we work. Extrapolating this to the Edwards-Anderson model case, we are led to conclude that the crossing points of the curves of figure 1 in our paper simply converge to $`B=B_c=0`$. We tried to substantiate this hypothesis by finite size scaling (figure 2 in our paper). If on the other hand one insists on having a critical value $`B_c>0`$ of the field, we are led to ask whether the curves $`r(N,B,0.15)/\sqrt{N}`$ vs $`B`$ superpose at large $`N`$ on a curve extending to $`B>0`$. Our data is displayed in figure 1. Judging from this figure, we probably would need to work with lattices larger than $`20^3`$ before such behavior could be seen. This may be feasible in the not so distant future, but much remains to be done.

J. Houdayer and O.C. Martin   
LPTMS, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405 Orsay, France

July 22, 1999

PACS numbers: 75.10.Nr, 64.60.Cn