A mean-field model of Ising spin glass with the Hamiltonian being a sum of the infinite-range ferromagnetic and random antiferromagnetic interactions has been studied. It is shown that this model has phase transition in external magnetic field into inergodic spin glass phase with a number of metastable states. The thermodynamic properties of metastable states are studied at T = 0 and near the t...

We investigate the role of carrier gases in the production of metastable argon atoms in a rf-driven discharge. The effects of different carrier gases (krypton, xenon, neon, and helium), carrier gas pressures, and rf discharge powers are examined. A xenon carrier gas provides the greatest metastable population of argon, yielding an optimal fractional metastable population of argon (Ar(*)/Ar) of ...

Phase transitions into a new phase that is itself metastable are common; instead of the equilibrium phase nucleating, a metastable phase does so. When this occurs the system is sometimes said to be obeying Ostwald's rule. We show how this can happen when there are impurities present that reduce the barrier to heterogeneous nucleation of the metastable phase. We do so by studying a Potts lattice...

Data communications between concurrent processes often employ shared latch circuitry of some kind, the most basic being a simple flip-flop which is written by one process and read by another, providing an inter-process assignment operation of a single bit binary variable. When the processes concerned do not operate in a synchronised fashion, metastable transients are possible inside shared latc...

The influence of dust particles on the concentration of metastable neon atoms and ionization was investigated using the developed drift/diffusion model for plasma of positive column of glow discharge. The detailed de-excitation in neon was considered. In addition to usual plasma losses in dusty plasmas, the quenching of metastable atoms on dust particle surface was considered. The strong influe...