Three-spin interaction Ising model with a nondegenerate ground state at zero applied field

The field-temperature phase diagram of a two-dimensional, three-spin interaction Ising model is studied using two different methods: mean field approximation and numerical transfer matrix techniques. The former leads to a rather rich phase diagram in which two separate phases with different symmetries can be found, and which presents first-order transition lines, a triple point, and a critical end point, like the solid-liquid-gas phase diagram of a pure compound. The numerical transfer matrix study confirms part of these results, but does not clearly evidence the existence of the less symmetric phase.