Condensation of helium in aerogels and athermal dynamics of the Random Field Ising Model

Abstract

High resolution measurements reveal that condensation isotherms of $^4$He in a silica aerogel become discontinuous below a critical temperature. We show that this behaviour does not correspond to an equilibrium phase transition modified by the disorder induced by the aerogel structure, but to the disorder-driven critical point predicted for the athermal out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the Random Field Ising Model. Our results evidence the key role of non-equilibrium effects in the phase transitions of disordered systems.