Variational approach to interfaces in random media: negative variances and replica symmetry breaking

Abstract

A Gaussian variational approximation is often used to study interfaces in random media. By considering the 1+1 dimensional directed polymer in a random medium, it is shown here that the variational Ansatz typically leads to a negative variance of the free energy. The situation improves by taking into account more and more steps of replica symmetry breaking. For infinite order breaking the variance is zero (i.e. subextensive). This situation is reminiscent of the negative entropies in mean field spin glass models, which were also eliminated by considering infinite order replica symmetry breaking.