Chaotic properties of spin lattices near second-order phase transitions

Abstract

We perform a numerical investigation of the Lyapunov spectra of chaotic dynamics in lattices of classical spins in the vicinity of second-order ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phase transitions. On the basis of this investigation, we identify a characteristic of the shape of the Lyapunov spectra, the “$G$-index,” which exhibits a sharp peak as a function of temperature at the phase transition, provided the order parameter is capable of sufficiently strong dynamic fluctuations. As part of this work, we also propose a general numerical algorithm for determining the temperature in many-particle systems, where kinetic energy is not defined.