Memory properties of spatially-extended disordered materials

Abstract

Memory is a fascinating phenomenon that has many interesting applications. This work focuses on Return-Point Memory (RPM), which is a particular type of memory present on ferromagnetic, spatially-extended disordered systems that manifests through quasistatic hysteresis. By modelling these materials using the fluctuationless Random Field Ising Model (T=0 RFIM) and computing the magnetization trajectories via a cellular automaton, we observe RPM, thus proving the validity of the model for this purpose, and analyze it qualitatively both at macroscopic and microscopic scales. We also perform a study on energy dissipation in this model and its relation with hysteresis and Barkhausen magnetization jumps