Magnetic critical behavior of two-dimensional random-bond Potts ferromagnets in confined geometries

Numerical evidence of a universal critical behavior of two-dimensional and three-dimensional random quantum clock and Potts models

The random quantum q-state clock and Potts models are studied in two and three dimensions. The existence of Griffiths phases is tested in the two-dimensional case with q=6 by sampling the integrated probability distribution of local susceptibilities of the equivalent McCoy-Wu three-dimensional classical models with Monte Carlo simulations. For the random Potts model, numerical evidence of the existence of Griffiths phases is given and the finite-size effects are analyzed. For the clock model, the data also suggest the existence of a Griffiths phase but with much larger finite-size effects. The critical point of the random quantum clock model is then studied with the Strong-Disorder Renormalization Group. Evidence is given that, at strong enough disorder, this critical behavior is governed by the same infinite-disorder fixed point as the Potts model, for all the number of states q considered. At weak disorder, our renormalization group method becomes unstable and does not allow us to make conclusions.

Interfacial adsorption in two-dimensional pure and random-bond Potts models

We use Monte Carlo simulations to study the finite-size scaling behavior of the interfacial adsorption of the two-dimensional square-lattice q-states Potts model. We consider the pure and random-bond versions of the Potts model for q=3,4,5,8, and 10, thus probing the interfacial properties at the originally continuous, weak, and strong first-order phase transitions. For the pure systems our results support the early scaling predictions for the size dependence of the interfacial adsorption at both first- and second-order phase transitions. For the disordered systems, the interfacial adsorption at the (disordered induced) continuous transitions is discussed, applying standard scaling arguments and invoking findings for bulk critical properties. The self-averaging properties of the interfacial adsorption are also analyzed by studying the infinite limit-size extrapolation of properly defined signal-to-noise ratios.

Phase transitions of the random-bond Potts chain with long-range interactions

We study phase transitions of the ferromagnetic q-state Potts chain with random nearest-neighbor couplings having a variance Δ^{2} and with homogeneous long-range interactions, which decay with distance as a power r^{-(1+σ)}, σ>0. In the large-q limit the free-energy of random samples of length L≤2048 is calculated exactly by a combinatorial optimization algorithm. The phase transition stays first order for σ<σ_{c}(Δ)≤0.5, while the correlation length becomes divergent at the transition point for σ_{c}(Δ)<σ<1. In the latter regime the average magnetization is continuous for small enough Δ, but for larger Δ-according to the numerical results-it becomes discontinuous at the transition point, thus the phase transition is expected of mixed order.

Griffiths phase and critical behavior of the two-dimensional Potts models with long-range correlated disorder

The q-state Potts model with long-range correlated disorder is studied by means of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations for q=2, 4, 8, and 16. Evidence is given of the existence of a Griffiths phase, where the thermodynamic quantities display an algebraic finite-size scaling, in a finite range of temperatures. The critical exponents are shown to depend on both the temperature and the exponent of the algebraic decay of disorder correlations, but not on the number of states of the Potts model. The mechanism leading to the violation of hyperscaling relations is observed in the entire Griffiths phase.

Influence of aperiodic modulations on first-order transitions: numerical study of the two-dimensional Potts model

We study the Potts model on a rectangular lattice with aperiodic modulations in its interactions along one direction. Numerical results are obtained using the Wolff algorithm and for many lattice sizes, allowing for a finite-size scaling analyses to be carried out. Three different self-dual aperiodic sequences are employed, which leads to more precise results, since the exact critical temperature is known. We analyze two models, with 6 and 15 number of states: both present first-order transitions on their uniform versions. We show that the Harris-Luck criterion, originally introduced in the study of continuous transitions, is obeyed also for first-order ones. Also, we show that the new universality class that emerges for relevant aperiodic modulations depends on the number of states of the Potts model, as obtained elsewhere for random disorder, and on the aperiodic sequence. We determine the occurrence of log-periodic behavior, as expected for models with aperiodic modulated interactions.

Critical dynamics of the two-dimensional random-bond Potts model with nonequilibrium Monte Carlo simulations

We study two-dimensional q -state random-bond Potts models for both q=8 and q=5 with a linearly varying temperature. By applying a successive Monte Carlo renormalization group procedure, both the static and dynamic critical exponents are obtained for randomness amplitudes (the strong to weak coupling ratio) of r_{0}=3 , 10, 15, and 20. The correlation length exponent nu increases with disorder from less than to larger than unity and this variation is justified by the good collapse of the specific heat near the critical region. The specific heat exponent is obtained by the usual hyperscaling relation alpha=2-dnu and thus indicates no possibility of the activated dynamic scaling. Both r_{0} and q have effects on the critical dynamics of the disordered systems, which can be seen from variations of the rate exponent, the hysteresis exponent, and the dynamic critical exponent. Implications of these results are discussed.

Density of critical clusters in strips of strongly disordered systems

We consider two models with disorder-dominated critical points and study the distribution of clusters that are confined in strips and touch one or both boundaries. For the classical random bond Potts model in the large- q limit, we study optimal Fortuin-Kasteleyn clusters using a combinatorial optimization algorithm. For the random transverse-field Ising chain, clusters are defined and calculated through the strong-disorder renormalization group method. The numerically calculated density profiles close to the boundaries are shown to follow scaling predictions. For the random bond Potts model, we have obtained accurate numerical estimates for the critical exponents and demonstrated that the density profiles are well described by conformal formulas.

First-order transition in a three-dimensional disordered system

We present the first detailed numerical study in three dimensions of a first-order phase transition that remains first order in the presence of quenched disorder (specifically, the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition of the site-diluted four states Potts model). A tricritical point, which lies surprisingly near the pure-system limit and is studied by means of finite-size scaling, separates the first-order and second-order parts of the critical line. This investigation has been made possible by a new definition of the disorder average that avoids the diverging-variance probability distributions that plague the standard approach. Entropy, rather than free energy, is the basic object in this approach that exploits a recently introduced microcanonical Monte Carlo method.

Critical and tricritical singularities of the three-dimensional random-bond Potts model for large

We study the effect of varying strength delta of bond randomness on the phase transition of the three-dimensional Potts model for large q. The cooperative behavior of the system is determined by large correlated domains in which the spins point in the same direction. These domains have a finite extent in the disordered phase. In the ordered phase there is a percolating cluster of correlated spins. For a sufficiently large disorder delta>deltat this percolating cluster coexists with a percolating cluster of noncorrelated spins. Such a coexistence is only possible in more than two dimensions. We argue and check numerically that deltat is the tricritical disorder, which separates the first- and second-order transition regimes. The tricritical exponents are estimated as betat/vt=0.10(2) and vt=0.67(4). We claim these exponents are q independent for sufficiently large q. In the second-order transition regime the critical exponents betat/vt=0.60(2) and vt=0.73(1) are independent of the strength of disorder.

Disorder-induced rounding of the phase transition in the large-q-state Potts model

The phase transition in the q -state Potts model with homogeneous ferromagnetic couplings is strongly first order for large q, while it is rounded in the presence of quenched disorder. Here we study this phenomenon on different two-dimensional lattices by using the fact that the partition function of the model is dominated by a single diagram of the high-temperature expansion, which is calculated by an efficient combinatorial optimization algorithm. For a given finite sample with discrete randomness the free energy is a piecewise linear function of the temperature, which is rounded after averaging, however, the discontinuity of the internal energy at the transition point (i.e., the latent heat) stays finite even in the thermodynamic limit. For a continuous disorder, instead, the latent heat vanishes. At the phase transition point the dominant diagram percolates and the total magnetic moment is related to the size of the percolating cluster. Its fractal dimension is found d(f) = ( 5 + square root of 5)/4 and it is independent of the type of the lattice and the form of disorder. We argue that the critical behavior is exclusively determined by disorder and the corresponding fixed point is the isotropic version of the so-called infinite randomness fixed point, which is realized in random quantum spin chains. From this mapping we conjecture the values of the critical exponents as beta=2- d(f), beta(s) =1/2, and nu=1.

Phase transition in the 2D random Potts model in the large-q limit

Phase transition in the two-dimensional q-state Potts model with random ferromagnetic couplings is studied in the large-q limit by a combinatorial optimization algorithm and by approximate mappings. We conjecture that the critical behavior of the model is controlled by the isotropic version of the infinite randomness fixed point of the random transverse-field Ising spin chain and the critical exponents are exactly given by beta=(3-sqrt[5])/4, beta(s)=1/2, and nu=1. The specific heat has a logarithmic singularity, but at the transition point there are very strong sample-to-sample fluctuations. Discretized randomness results in discontinuities in the internal energy.

Random-bond Potts model in the large-q limit

We study the critical behavior of the q-state Potts model with random ferromagnetic couplings. Working with the cluster representation the partition sum of the model in the large-q limit is dominated by a single graph, the fractal properties of which are related to the critical singularities of the random-Potts model. The optimization problem of finding the dominant graph, is studied on the square lattice by simulated annealing and by a combinatorial algorithm. Critical exponents of the magnetization and the correlation length are estimated and conformal predictions are compared with numerical results.

Short-time dynamics and magnetic critical behavior of the two-dimensional random-bond potts model

The critical behavior in the short-time dynamics for the random-bond Potts ferromagnet in two dimensions is investigated by short-time dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. The numerical calculations show that this dynamic approach can be applied efficiently to study the scaling characteristic, which is used to estimate the critical exponents straight theta,beta/nu, and z, for quenched disordered systems from the power-law behavior of the kth moments of magnetization.

Correlation-length-exponent relation for the two-dimensional random ising model

We consider the two-dimensional (2D) random Ising model on a diagonal strip of the square lattice, where the bonds take two values, J1>J2, with equal probability. Using an iterative method, based on a successive application of the star-triangle transformation, we have determined at the bulk critical temperature the correlation length along the strip xi(L) for different widths of the strip L</=21. The ratio of the two lengths xi(L)/L=A is found to approach the universal value A=2/pi for large L, independent of the dilution parameter J(1)/J(2). With our method we have demonstrated with high numerical precision, that the surface correlation function of the 2D dilute Ising model is self-averaging, in the critical point conformally covariant and the corresponding decay exponent is eta( ||)=1.

Large-q asymptotics of the random-bond potts model

We numerically examine the large-q asymptotics of the q-state random bond Potts model. Special attention is paid to the parametrization of the critical line, which is determined by combining the loop representation of the transfer matrix with Zamolodchikov's c-theorem. Asymptotically the central charge seems to behave like c(q)=1 / 2 log(2)(q)+O(1). Very accurate values of the bulk magnetic exponent x(1) are then extracted by performing Monte Carlo simulations directly at the critical point. As q-->infinity, these seem to tend to a nontrivial limit, x(1)-->0.192+/-0.002.