Heterogeneous nucleation in the random field Ising model

Abstract

We investigate the nucleation dynamics of the three-dimensional random field Ising model under an external field. We use umbrella sampling to compute the free-energy cost of a critical nucleus and use forward flux sampling for the direct estimation of nucleation rates. For moderate to strong disorder, our results indicate that the size of the nucleating cluster is not a good reaction coordinate, contrary to the pure Ising model. We rectify this problem by introducing a coordinate that also accounts for the location of the nucleus. Using the free energy barrier to predict the nucleation rate, we find reasonable agreement, although deviations become stronger as disorder increases. We attribute this effect to cluster shape fluctuations. We also discuss finite-size effects on the nucleation rate.