We review some aspects of the fermionic interpretation of the two-dimensional Ising model.The use is made of the notion of the integral over the anticommuting Grassmann variables.For simple and more complicated 2D Ising lattices, the partition function can be expressed as a fermionic Gaussian integral.Equivalently, the 2D Ising model can be reformulated as a free-fermion theory on a lattice.For regular lattices the analytic solution then readily follows by passing to the momentum space for fermions.We also comment on the eective eld{theoretical (continuum{limit) fermionic formulations for the 2D Ising models near the critical point.
Abstract It is shown that the two-dimensional free fermion model is equivalent to a checkerboard Ising model, which is a special case of the general ‘Z-invariant’ Ising model. Expressions are given for the partition function and local correlations in terms of those of the regular square lattice Ising model. Corresponding results are given for the self-dual Potts model, and the application of the methods to the three-dimensional Zamolodchikov model is discussed. The paper ends with a discussion of the critical and disorder surfaces of the checkerboard Potts model.
Partition function zeros are powerful tools in understanding critical behavior. In this paper, we present results of the Fisher zeros of two-dimensional Ising models, in the framework of free-fermion eight-vertex model. First, we succeed in finding special boundary conditions for the free-fermion model, under which the partition function of a finite lattice can be expressed in a double product form. Using appropriate mappings, these boundary conditions are transformed into the corresponding versions of the square, triangular, and honeycomb lattice Ising models. Each Ising model is studied in the cases of a zero field and of an imaginary field i ( π / 2 ) k B T . For the square lattice model, we rediscover the famous Brascamp-Kunz (B-K) boundary conditions. For the triangular and honeycomb lattice models, we obtain the B-K-type boundary conditions, and the Fisher zeros are conveniently solved from the product form of partition function. The advantage of B-K-type boundary conditions is that the Fisher zeros of any finite lattice exactly lie on certain loci, and the accumulation points of zeros can be easily determined in the thermodynamic limit. Our finding and method would be very helpful in studying the partition function zeros of vertex and Ising models.
We review the applications of the integral over anticommuting Grassmann variables (nonquantum fermionic fields) to the analytic solutions and the field-theoretical formulations for the 2D Ising models. The 2D Ising model partition function
Q is presentable as the fermionic Gaussian integral. The use of the spin-polynomial interpretation of the 2D Ising problem is stressed, in particular. Starting with the spin-polynomial interpretation of the local Boltzmann weights, the Gaussian integral for
Q appears in the universal form for a variety of lattices, including the standard rectangular, triangular, and hexagonal lattices, and with the minimal number of fermionic variables (two per site). The analytic solutions for the correspondent 2D Ising models then follow by passing to the momentum space on a lattice. The symmetries and the question on the location of critical point have an interesting interpretation within this spin-polynomial formulation of the problem. From the exact lattice theory we then pass to the continuum-limit field-theoretical interpretation of the 2D Ising models. The continuum theory captures all relevant features of the original models near
Tc. The continuum limit corresponds to the low-momentum sector of the exact theory responsible for the critical-point singularities and the large-distance behaviour of correlations. The resulting field theory is the massive two-component Majorana theory, with mass vanishing at
Tc. By doubling of fermions in the Majorana representation, we obtain as well the 2D Dirac field theory of charged fermions for 2D Ising models. The differences between particular 2D Ising lattices are merely adsorbed, in the field-theoretical formulation, in the definition of the effective mass.