Magnetic properties of a frozen ferrofluid: Local-mean-field theory

Recent experiments on the magnetic properties of frozen ferrofluids indicate clear deviations from canonical spin glass behavior. To elucidate these differences we present simulations based on a local-mean-field theory approach. This theoretical scheme was previously found to be quite successful for traditional spin glass and random field systems. In a parallel fashion we study frustration effects associated with a magnetic dipole-dipole interaction for a random spatial arrangement of Heisenberg spins in a quenched ferrofluid. Some of the experimental features can be reproduced if the spins are assumed to be inhomogeneously distributed in space. © 1994 The American Physical Society.