Kinetic six-vertex model as model of bcc crystal growth

The growth of bcc crystals is studied using van Beijeren's mapping onto the six-vertex model. The growth-evaporation processes are described in terms of vertices. The time evolution is given by a master equation for the probability of the six-vertex configurations. The model, studied in the finite-size case by both Monte Carlo and analytic methods, applies to the (001) surface and its vicinal surfaces. Different growth modes (including nucleation) are found, depending on the strength of disequilibrium and on temperature, and the transition between them is investigated.On leave of absence from the Institute of Physics, Czechoslovak Academy of Science, Prague, Czechoslovakia.