The applicability of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is typically limited to the models they are trained with and little is known about their generalizability, which is a pressing issue in the practical application of trained ANNs to unseen problems. Here, by using the task of identifying phase transitions in spin models, we establish a systematic generalizability such that simple ANNs trained with the two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising model can be applied to the ferromagnetic q q -state Potts model in different dimensions for q \geq 2 q ≥ 2 . The same scheme can be applied to the highly nontrivial antiferromagnetic q q -state Potts model. We demonstrate that similar results can be obtained by reducing the exponentially large state space spanned by the training data to one that comprises only three representative configurations artificially constructed through symmetry considerations. We expect our findings to simplify and accelerate the development of machine learning-assisted tasks in spin-model related disciplines in physics and materials science.
The applicability of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is typically limited to the models they are trained with and little is known about their generalizability, which is a pressing issue in the practical application of trained ANNs to unseen problems. Here, by using the task of identifying phase transitions in spin models, we establish a systematic generalizability such that simple ANNs trained with the two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising model can be applied to the ferromagnetic q q -state Potts model in different dimensions for q \geq 2 q ≥ 2 . The same scheme can be applied to the highly nontrivial antiferromagnetic q q -state Potts model. We demonstrate that similar results can be obtained by reducing the exponentially large state space spanned by the training data to one that comprises only three representative configurations artificially constructed through symmetry considerations. We expect our findings to simplify and accelerate the development of machine learning-assisted tasks in spin-model related disciplines in physics and materials science.
Abstract Using the techniques of neural networks (NN), we study the three-dimensional (3D) five-state ferromagnetic Potts model on the cubic lattice as well as the two-dimensional (2D) three-state antiferromagnetic Potts model on the square lattice. Unlike the conventional approach, here we follow the idea employed by Li et al (2018 Ann. Phys., NY 391 312–331). Specifically, instead of numerically generating numerous objects for the training, the whole or part of the theoretical ground state configurations of the studied models are considered as the training sets. Remarkably, our investigation of these two models provides convincing evidence for the effectiveness of the method of preparing training sets used in this study. In particular, the results of the 3D model obtained here imply that the NN approach is as efficient as the traditional method since the signal of a first order phase transition, namely tunneling between two channels, determined by the NN method is as strong as that calculated with the Monte Carlo technique. Furthermore, the outcomes associated with the considered 2D system indicate even little partial information of the ground states can lead to conclusive results regarding the studied phase transition. The achievements reached in our investigation demonstrate that the performance of NN, using certain amount of the theoretical ground state configurations as the training sets, is impressive.
A neural network study of the phase transitions of the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic q-state Potts models on the square lattice
The critical phenomena of the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic q-state Potts model on the square lattice with q=2,3,4 are investigated using the techniques of neural networks (NN). In particular, an unconventional supervised NN which is trained using no information about the physics of the considered systems is employed. In addition, conventional unsupervised autoencoders (AECs) are used in our study as well. Remarkably, while the conventional AECs fail to uncover the critical phenomena of the systems investigated here, our unconventional supervised NN correctly identifies the critical behaviors of all three considered antiferromagnetic q-state models. The results obtained in this study suggest convincingly that the applicability of our unconventional supervised NN is broader than one anticipates. In particular, when a new system is studied with our NN, it is likely that it is not necessary to conduct any training, and one only needs to examine whether an appropriate reduced representation of the original raw configurations exists, so that the same already trained NN can be employed to explore the related phase transition efficiently.
A universal (supervised) neural network (NN), which is only trained once on a one-dimensional lattice of 200 sites, is employed to study the phase transition of the two-dimensional (2D) 5-state ferromagnetic Potts model on the square lattice. In particular, the NN is obtained by using merely two artificially made configurations as the training set. Due to the elegant features of the considered NN, results associated with systems consisting of over 4000000 spins can be obtained with ease, and convincing evidence showing the investigated phase transition is weakly first order is reached. The outcomes demonstrated here can hardly be achieved with the standard NNs that are commonly used in the literature.
A universal supervised neural network (NN) relevant to compute the associated criticalities of real experiments studying phase transitions is constructed. The validity of the built NN is examined by applying it to calculate the criticalities of several three-dimensional (3D) models on the cubic lattice, including the classical O(3) model, the 5-state ferromagnetic Potts model, and a dimerized quantum antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model. Particularly, although the considered NN is only trained one time on a one-dimensional (1D) lattice with 120 sites, yet it has successfully determined the related critical points of the studied 3D systems. Moreover, real configurations of states are not used in the testing stage. Instead, the employed configurations for the prediction are constructed on a 1D lattice of 120 sites and are based on the bulk quantities or the microscopic states of the considered models. As a result, our calculations are ultimately efficient in computation and the applications of the built NN is extremely broaden. Considering the fact that the investigated systems vary dramatically from each other, it is amazing that the combination of these two strategies in the training and the testing stages lead to a highly universal supervised neural network for learning phases and criticalities of 3D models. Based on the outcomes presented in this study, it is favorably probable that much simpler but yet elegant machine learning techniques can be constructed for fields of many-body systems other than the critical phenomena.
Conventionally, the training of a neural network for learning phases of matter uses real physical quantities as the training set. However, it has been demonstrated in several studies that this may not be required. Here we investigate the phase transitions of the two-dimensional (2D) q-state Potts models on the square lattice using a pre-trained neural network (NN). The employed NN was trained previously using two artifically made configurations as the training set. Hence no training is conducted for the present study. Remarkably, the used NN not only calculates the critical points of the considered phase transitions precisely, but also determines the nature of these phase transition definitely without ambiguity. Our results as well as the outcomes found previously suggest that training a NN using real physical quantities as the training set is not required to obtain a working NN. These unconventional studies also imply that if the configuration space of a system can be classified into two categories, then the NN considered here is likely applicable to study the phase transition of that system. Comparison between our approach and other known NN methods for studying the 2D q-state Potts models is briefly discussed as well.
A Machine Learning study of the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic q-state Potts model on the square lattice
The critical phenomena of two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic q-state Potts model on the square lattice with q=2,3,4,5 and 6 are investigated using the technique of supervised neural network (NN). Unlike the conventional NN approaches, here we train a multilayer perceptron consisting of only one input layer, one hidden layer, and one output layer with two artificially made stagger-like configurations. Remarkably, despite the fact that the MLP is trained without any input from these considered models, it correctly identifies the critical temperatures of the studied physical systems. Particularly, the MLP outcomes suggest convincingly that the q=3 model is critical only at zero temperature and q=4,5,6 models remain disordered at all temperatures. Previously, this MLP has been successfully applied to uncover the nature of the phase transitions of 2D antiferromagnetic Ising model with multi-interactions. Therefore, it will be interesting to examine whether the already trained MLP can detect other models with untypical critical phenomena.