Metamagnets in uniform and random fields

Abstract

We study a two-sublattice Ising metamagnet with nearest and next-nearest-neighbor interactions, in both uniform and random fields. Using a mean-field approximation, we show that the qualitative features of the phase diagrams are significantly dependent on the distribution of the random fields. In particular, for a Gaussian distribution of random fields, the behavior of the model is qualitatively similar to a dilute Ising metamagnet in a uniform field.