Mean field approach to the electron glass

Abstract

The authors investigate the electronic properties of a 3D system of localised Coulomb interacting electrons. At T=0 they find a large number of metastable states by solving the exact mean field equation for the electron glass. After 'heating up' the system and subsequently slowly cooling down lower metastable states are reached. The transition from the glassy to the 'paramagnetic' state shows up in the specific heat, 'susceptibility' and the Edwards-Anderson order parameter.