FROM METASTABLE TO STABLE STATES IN A MAGNETIC SYSTEM WITH MANY DEGREES OF FREEDOM

The path, from remanence-type states to minimum energy states, followe d by magnetic systems with many degrees of freedom, is examined in ter ms of models describing exchange coupled regions. We observed large de partures of the behavior of these systems from the classical exponenti al decay and, noteworthy, the occurrence of a waiting time for the dev elopment of thermally activated irreversible processes.