The loop expansion around the Bethe solution at zero temperature predicts an upper critical dimension equal to 8 for spin glass models in a field.

The spin-glass transition in a field in finite dimension is analyzed directly at zero temperature using a perturbative loop expansion around the Bethe lattice solution. The loop expansion is generated by the $M$-layer construction whose first diagrams are evaluated numerically and analytically. The Ginzburg criterion, from both the paramagnetic and spin-glass phase, reveals that the upper critical dimension below which mean-field theory fails is $D_\text{U}=8$, at variance with the classic results $D_\text{U}=6$ yielded by finite-temperature replica field theory. The different outcome follows from two crucial properties: finite-connectivity of the lattice and zero temperature. They both also lead to specific features of the replica-symmetry-breaking phase.