ABSTRACT
The previous six chapters have dwelt upon the spin-glass phenomenon with emphasis on the word ‘spin’. Except for a few cursory remarks pertaining to real glasses, we have remained fully on the track of magnetic effects and spin models. Naturally, magnetism does have its advantages since we can easily couple into such systems with a magnetic field, the conjugate field of the problem, and there exists a vast range of sensitive experimental techniques to measure this coupling under various conditions. However, now that we have outlined the basic spin-glass behaviour and theory, and hopefully have gained an understanding of the rudimentary physics, the obvious question arises: are there non-magnetic analogues? Answer: yes, many! So let’s at this point take a look at some of these and venture beyond the spin and even beyond the glass into life sciences.
