Window measurements of simulations in random systems

Abstract

Numerical studies in random systems are plagued with strong finite-size effects and boundary effects. We introduce a window-measurement method as a practical solution to these difficulties. We observe physical quantities only within a subsystem located in the midst of a whole system and scale them with the correlation length estimated in the subsystem. Both equilibrium data and nonequilibrium data with different system sizes and different window sizes fall onto a single scaling function. It suggests that the correction-to-scaling terms become very small. We confirm the validity in the $\pm J$ Heisenberg spin glass model in three dimensions. The spin-glass and chiral-glass transition temperatures are estimated to be very close to each other.