Heisenberg Spin Glass Experiments and the Chiral Ordering Scenario

An overview is given of experimental data on Heisenberg spin glass materials so as to make detailed comparisons with numerical results on model Heisenberg spin glasses, with particular reference to the chiral driven ordering transition scenario due to Kawamura and collaborators. On weak anisotropy systems, experiments show critical exponents which are very similar to those estimated numerically for the model Heisenberg chiral ordering transition but which are quite different from those at Ising spin glass transitions. Again on weak anisotropy Heisenberg spin glasses, experimental torque data show well defined in-field transverse ordering transitions up to strong applied fields, in contrast to Ising spin glasses where fields destroy ordering. When samples with stronger anisotropies are studied, critical and in-field behavior tend progressively towards the Ising limit. It can be concluded that the essential physics of laboratory Heisenberg spin glasses mirrors that of model Heisenberg spin glasses, where chiral ordering has been demonstrated numerically.