Monte Carlo simulations of vector spin glasses at low temperatures Original Research Article

In this paper I report results for simulations of the three-dimensional gauge glass and the four-dimensional XY spin glass using the parallel tempering Monte Carlo method at low temperatures for moderate sizes. The results are qualitatively consistent with earlier work on the three- and four-dimensional Edwards–Anderson Ising spin glass. I find evidence that large-scale excitations may cost only a finite amount of energy in the thermodynamic limit. The surface of these excitations is fractal, but I cannot rule out for the XY spin glass a scenario compatible with replica symmetry breaking where the surface of low-energy large-scale excitations is space filling.