Systems with Symmetry Breaking and Restoration

Abstract

Statistical systems, in which spontaneous symmetry breaking can be accompanied by spontaneous local symmetry restoration, are considered. A general approach to describing such systems is formulated, based on the notion of weighted Hilbert spaces and configuration averaging. The approach is illustrated by the example of a ferroelectric with mesoscopic fluctuations of paraelectric phase. The influence of the local symmetry restoration on the system characteristics, such as sound velocity and Debye-Waller factor, is discussed.

Keywords

• spontaneous symmetry breaking
• spontaneous symmetry restoration
• weighted Hilbert spaces
• ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition
• relaxor ferroelectrics