Theory relaxation phenomena in a spin-3/2 Ising system near the second-order phase transition temperature

The relaxation behavior of the spin-3/2 Ising model Hamiltonian with bilinear and biquadratic interactions near the second-order phase transition temperature or critical temperature is studied by means of the Onsager's theory of irreversible thermodynamics or the Onsager reciprocity theorem (ORT). First, we give the equilibrium case briefly within the molecular-field approximation in order to study the relaxation behavior by using the ORT. Then, the ORT is applied to the model and the kinetic equations are obtained. By solving these equations, three relaxation times are calculated and examined for temperatures near the second-order phase transition temperature. It is found that one of the relaxation times goes to infinity near the critical temperature on either side, the second relaxation time makes a cusp at the critical temperature and third one behaves very differently in which it terminates at the critical temperature while approaching it, then showing a "flatness" property and then decreases. We also study the influences of the Onsager rate coefficients on the relaxation times. The behavior of these relaxation times is discussed and compared with the spin-1/2 and spin-1 Ising systems. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.