We exploit the quantum cluster variational method (QCVM) to study the ${J}_{1}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{J}_{2}$ model for quantum Ising spins. We first describe the QCVM and discuss how it is related to other mean field approximations. The phase diagram of the model is studied at the level of the Kikuchi approximation in square lattices as a function of the ratio between
g=J2/J1, the temperature and the longitudinal and transverse external fields. Our results show that quantum fluctuations may change the order of the transition and induce a gap between the ferromagnetic and the stripe phases. Moreover, when both longitudinal and transverse fields are present, thermal fluctuations and quantum effects contribute to the appearance of a nematic phase.
The phase diagram of the Ising square lattice with first- and second-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions (
J1 and
J2) is calculated within the framework of the cluster-variation method. The Hamiltonian is solved within the nine-point-cluster approximation. In contrast to previous studies we find that the phase transition from the superantiferromagnetic to the paramagnetic state is of first order in the range 0.5R=
J1/${\mathit{J}}_{2}$1.144. The non-Ising critical behavior observed in that range of interactions might be due to that phenomenon.
The q-state Potts model on a square lattice and in the presence of an external magnetic field that couples to only one state is studied by using extensive Monte Carlo simulations. A hybrid algorithm that combines the single spin-flip Metropolis method with Wolff cluster updates is employed. Single-histogram reweighting techniques and the field-mixing approach are also used to obtain the corresponding universal probability distributions. By analyzing the finite-size scaling behavior of the order parameters and universal probability distributions, the phase diagram in the temperature-versus-external field plane is obtained in the thermodynamic limit for some values of state q≥5. For positive fields and higher values of q, there is a clear first-order transition line that starts at the zero-field transition point and ends at an isolated critical point, which is in the two-dimensional Ising universality class. As the value of state q decreases, the corresponding critical field also decreases. The present results strongly suggest that the critical field vanishes when q→5^{+}. However, for negative fields, another first-order transition line occurs without any critical or multicritical behavior for q≥6. The special case with q=5 undergoes a weak first-order transition at zero field and a line of second-order transitions for negative fields. This second-order transition line is in the same universality class as the q=4 Potts model.
We consider the thermal phase transition from a paramagnetic to a stripe-antiferromagnetic phase in the frustrated two-dimensional square-lattice Ising model with competing interactions
J1<0 (nearest neighbor, ferromagnetic) and
J2>0 (second neighbor, antiferromagnetic). The striped phase breaks a
Z4 symmetry and is stabilized at low temperatures for
g=J2/∣J1∣>1/2. Despite the simplicity of the model, it has proved difficult to precisely determine the order and the universality class of the phase transitions. This was done convincingly only recently by Jin et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 045702 (2012)]. Here, we further elucidate the nature of these transitions and their anomalies by employing a combination of cluster mean-field theory, Monte Carlo simulations, and transfer-matrix calculations. The
J1-
J2 model has a line of very weak first-order phase transitions in the whole region
1/2<g<g∗, where ${g}^{*}=0.67\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01$. Thereafter, the transitions from
g=g∗ to $g\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$ are continuous and can be fully mapped, using universality arguments, to the critical line of the well-known Ashkin-Teller model from its four-state Potts point to the decoupled Ising limit. We also comment on the pseudo-first-order behavior at the Potts point and its neighborhood in the Ashkin-Teller model on finite lattices, which in turn leads to the appearance of similar effects in the vicinity of the multicritical point
g∗ in the
J1-
J2 model. The continuous transitions near
g∗ can therefore be mistaken for first-order transitions, and this realization was the key to understanding the paramagnetic-striped transition for the full range of
g>1/2. Most of our conclusions are based on Monte Carlo calculations, while the cluster mean-field and transfer-matrix results provide useful methodological benchmarks for weakly first-order behaviors and Ashkin-Teller criticality.
Abstract. We use improved Monte-Carlo algorithms to study the antiferromagnetic 2D-Ising model with competing interactions J1 on nearest neighbour and J2 on next-nearest neighbour bonds. The finite-temperature phase diagram is divided by a critical point at J2 = J1/2 where the groundstate is highly degenerate. To analyse the phase boundaries we look at the specific heat and the energy distribution for various ratios of J2/J1. We find a first order transition for small J2> J1/2 and the transition temperature suppressed to TC = 0 at the critical point. 1.