Melting and wetting transitions in the three-state chiral clock model

The melting transition of the two-dimensional, three-state, asymmetric or chiral clock model is examined. Evidence from scaling arguments and analysis of perturbation series is presented, indicating that the chiral symmetry-breaking operator is relevant at the symmetric (or pure Potts) critical point with a crossover exponent of ø ≈ 0.2. The remainder of the commensurate-disordered phase boundary therefore appears to be in a new universality class, distinct from the pure three-state Potts transition. An interfacial wetting transition that plays an important role in the crossover between the two types of critical behavior is discussed. The location and exponents of this wetting transition are obtained both in a low-temperature limit using generating function techniques and in a systematic low-temperature expansion of the transfer matrix.     

Depinning and wetting in two-dimensional Potts and chiral clock models

The interplay of depinning and interfacial adsorption or wetting phenomena is studied for two-dimensional three-state Potts and chiral clock models where the variables on opposite boundaries are fixed in different states and the interactions near one of the surfaces are weakened compared to the ones in the bulk. Using a transfer matrix approach and Monte Carlo techniques a new interfacial multicritical point is found at which both interfacial properties become critical simultaneously. However, in general the two types of transitions are decoupled.     

Surfaces and Peierls contours: 3-d wetting and 2-d Ising percolation

A natural model of a discrete random surface lying above a two-dimensional substrate is presented and analyzed. An identification of the level curves of the surface with the Peierls contours of Ising spin configurations leads to an exactly solvable free energy, with logarithmically divergent specific heat. The thermodynamic critical point is shown to be a wetting transition at which the surface height diverges. This is so even though the surface has no downward fingers and hence no entropic repulsion from the substrate.Dedicated to Roland DobrushinResearch supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMS-8514834 and AFOSR Contract No. F49620-86-C0130 under the U.R.I. program     

Interfacial wetting in the 4-state Potts model: A cluster approach

We formulate an inhomogeneous generalization of the bond-cluster approach to deal with interfacial phenomena in q  -state Potts models. We apply this formalism to the wetting by the disordered phase of the interface between two bulk phases. For the case q=4$q=4$ we obtain the full interfacial profiles, provide an estimate for the wetting temperature and verify the predicted logarithmic divergence of the wetting layer.     

Quantum critical scaling and the origin of non-fermi-liquid behavior in Sc1-xUxPd3

We used inelastic neutron scattering to study magnetic excitations of Sc1-xUxPd3 for U concentrations (x=0.25, 0.35) near the spin glass quantum critical point (QCP). The excitations are spatially incoherent, broad in energy (E=variant Planck's over 2piomega), and follow omega/T scaling at all wave vectors investigated. Since similar omega/T scaling has been observed for UCu5-xPdx and CeCu6-xAux near the antiferromagnetic QCP, we argue that the observed non-Fermi-liquid behavior in these f-electron materials arises from the critical phenomena near a T=0 K phase transition, irrespective of the nature of the transition.     

Singular critical endpoint and phase diagrams of the anisotropic 3-state Potts model on square lattice

We have studied the ground state and thermodynamic properties of the anisotropic 3-state Potts model on square lattice by means of the tensor network-based numerical method. The phase diagrams of this model in the ground state and at finite temperature are identified. The singular behavior at the critical endpoint along the phase boundary is carefully investigated. It is discovered that the sharp peaks appear in the second-order derivative of the field as well as the first-order derivative of the magnetization with respect to temperature on the phase boundary. Our numerical results confirm the prediction of Fisher et al. about the critical endpoint.     

The critical behavior of dimer-dimer surface reaction models. Monte Carlo and finite-size scaling investigation

Two models based upon the well-known mechanism for the oxidation of hydrogen on transition metal surfaces, which may also apply to generic dimerdimer surface reaction processes of the type (1/2) A₂+B₂B₂A, are proposed and studied on the square lattice of sideL (L 600) by means of Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size analysis. Both models exhibit irreversible (kinetic) phase transitions (IPT) from a reactive state with sustained production of B₂A molecules to off-equilibrium surface poisoned states with the reactants, i.e., without production. The location of the critical points at which the IPTs take place in theL= limit is determined by means of a finite-size scaling analysis. Also, it is shown that at criticality some relevant quantities, such as the rate of B₂A production and the coverage with the reactants, exhibit simple power-law behavior, which allow us to determine the corresponding critical exponents.     

Domain walls, surface tension and wetting in the three-dimensional three-state Potts model

We study the thermodynamic properties of interfaces between differently ordered domains in the three-dimensional three-state Potts model. We perform simulations on lattices with cylindric geometry, using parallel and rotated fixed boundary conditions. Systematic control over finite-size effects and the number of interfaces is achieved. Global and local characterization of the interfacial structure is given and substantial evidence for complete wetting is presented.     

Renormalization group approach to the surface and defect critical behavior in the potts model

A simple real-space renormalization group method with two-terminal clusters is used to treat the critical behavior of Potts ferromagnet with free surface and defect plane on the same footing both for square and cubic lattices. For a square lattice, quite different critical behaviors are found for the cases of line defect and free surface. Whenq is larger than three, like the case ofa line type defect in ‘diamond’ hierarchical lattice, the order parameter on a defect line increases discontinuously at the bulk critical point if the defect interaction is sufficiently strong. This behavior, on the contrary, does not occur on the surface of a semi-infinite plane. For a cubic lattice, the phase diagram and renormalization group flow properties are obtained explicitly for bothq=1 (bond percolation) andq=2 (Ising model). In both cases, our calculations whow that the critical behavior on the surface of a semi-infinite system belongs to a different universality class from the critical behavior on the defect plane of a bulk system.     

Free energy of the chiral Potts model in the scaling region

We explicitly calculate the free energy of the general solvableN-state chiral Potts model in the scaling region, forT<T _c . We do this from both of the two available results for the free energy, and verify that they are mutually consistent. Ift=T _c –T, then we find that - _c /t has a Taylor expansion in powers oft ^2/N (together with higher-order non-scaling terms of ordert, ort logt).     

Finite-size scaling analysis of the critical behavior of a general epidemic process in 2D

We investigate the critical behavior of a stochastic lattice model describing a General Epidemic Process. By means of a Monte Carlo procedure, we simulate the model on a regular square lattice and follow the spreading of an epidemic process with immunization. A finite size scaling analysis is employed to determine the critical point as well as some critical exponents. We show that the usual scaling analysis of the order parameter moment ratio does not provide an accurate estimate of the critical point. Precise estimates of the critical quantities are obtained from data of the order parameter variation rate and its fluctuations. Our numerical results corroborate that this model belongs to the dynamic isotropic percolation universality class. We also check the validity of the hyperscaling relation and present data collapse curves which reinforce the accuracy of the estimated critical parameters.     

Large-N scaling behavior of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model

We introduce a novel semiclassical approach to the Lipkin model. In this way the well-known phase transition arising at the critical value of the coupling is intuitively understood. New results--showing for strong couplings the existence of a threshold energy which separates deformed from undeformed states as well as the divergence of the density of states at the threshold energy--are explained straightforwardly and in quantitative terms by the appearance of a double well structure in a classical system corresponding to the Lipkin model. Previously unnoticed features of the eigenstates near the threshold energy are also predicted and found to hold.     

Cascade-like and scaling behavior of wind velocity increments in the atmospheric surface layer

By using a large amount of data collected in the atmospheric surface layer, we analyze the probability density functions (PDFs), the probability of return and the moments of wind velocity increments. Results show that the PDFs change from the non-Gaussian long-tailed distributions to Gaussian with the increase of time scales. This is similar to what has been observed and interpreted as an indication of cascade in the fully developed homogeneous and isotropic turbulence. Besides, both the probability of return and the moments are found to be scaling with time scales. We then compare above results with the truncated Lévy flights and the log-normal PDF model. It is found that although both models show the cascade-like behavior in the PDFs and the scaling behavior in the probability of return and the moments under some conditions, they are not good enough for quantitatively describing the random process of wind velocity increments.     

Complex zeroes of the d = 3 Ising model: Finite-size scaling and critical amplitudes

By means of an MC simulation of lattices of size 4³ to 8³, we study the distribution of the complex zeroes closest to the real β axis of the d = 3 Ising model. We observe they do scale and we measure in this way ν and A₊/A_-. We obtain the prediction A₊/A_- = 0.45±0.07.