0000000000624083
AUTHOR
Marco D’onorio De Meo
First-order phase transitions investigated by use of a Monte Carlo interface method
We investigate first-order phase transitions on unfrustrated antiferromagnetic Potts models in two and three dimensions by estimating the interface free energy by use of a Monte Carlo method. Even for strong first-order transitions the occurrence of hysteresis is circumvented and our method allows for an accurate determination of ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$ by locating a \ensuremath{\delta}-function-shaped peak in the energy difference between configurations with and without an interface.
Monte Carlo study of the ising model phase transition in terms of the percolation transition of “physical clusters”
Finite squareL×L Ising lattices with ferromagnetic nearest neighbor interaction are simulated using the Swendsen-Wang cluster algorithm. Both thermal properties (internal energyU, specific heatC, magnetization 〈|M|〉, susceptibilityχ) and percolation cluster properties relating to the “physical clusters,” namely the Fortuin-Kasteleyn clusters (percolation probability 〈P∞〉, percolation susceptibilityχp, cluster size distributionnl) are evaluated, paying particular attention to finite-size effects. It is shown that thermal properties can be expressed entirely in terms of cluster properties, 〈P∞〉 being identical to 〈|M|〉 in the thermodynamic limit, while finite-size corrections differ. In contr…