Abstract We study the effect of competing interactions on ensemble inequivalence. We consider a one-dimensional Ising model with ferromagnetic mean-field interactions and short-range nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-NN couplings which can be either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic. Despite the relative simplicity of the model, our calculations in the microcanonical ensemble reveal a rich phase diagram. The comparison with the corresponding phase diagram in the canonical ensemble shows the presence of phase transition points and lines which are different in the two ensembles. As an example, in a region of the phase diagram where the canonical ensemble shows a critical point and a critical end point, the microcanonical ensemble has an additional critical point and also a triple point. The regions of ensemble inequivalence typically occur at lower temperatures and at larger absolute values of the competing couplings. The presence of two free parameters in the model allows us to obtain a fourth-order critical point, which can be fully characterized by deriving its Landau normal form.
Abstract We study the effect of competing interactions on ensemble inequivalence. We consider a one-dimensional Ising model with ferromagnetic mean-field interactions and short-range nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-NN couplings which can be either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic. Despite the relative simplicity of the model, our calculations in the microcanonical ensemble reveal a rich phase diagram. The comparison with the corresponding phase diagram in the canonical ensemble shows the presence of phase transition points and lines which are different in the two ensembles. As an example, in a region of the phase diagram where the canonical ensemble shows a critical point and a critical end point, the microcanonical ensemble has an additional critical point and also a triple point. The regions of ensemble inequivalence typically occur at lower temperatures and at larger absolute values of the competing couplings. The presence of two free parameters in the model allows us to obtain a fourth-order critical point, which can be fully characterized by deriving its Landau normal form.
Abstract In this paper we study an Ising spin chain with short-range competing interactions in the presence of long-range ferromagnetic interactions in the canonical ensemble. The simultaneous presence of the frustration induced by the short-range couplings together with their competition with the long-range term gives rise to a rich thermodynamic-phase diagram. We compare our results with the limit in which one of two local interactions is turned off, which was previously studied in the literature. Eight regions of parameters with qualitatively distinct properties are featured, with different first- and second-order phase transition lines and critical points.
We explore ensemble inequivalence in long-range interacting systems by studying an XY model of classical spins with ferromagnetic and nematic coupling. We demonstrate the inequivalence by mapping the microcanonical phase diagram onto the canonical one, and also by doing the inverse mapping. We show that the equilibrium phase diagrams within the two ensembles strongly disagree within the regions of first-order transitions, exhibiting interesting features like temperature jumps. In particular, we discuss the coexistence and forbidden regions of different macroscopic states in both the phase diagrams.
We have studied the phase diagrams of the one-dimensional spin-1 Blume-Capel model with anisotropy constant D, in which equivalent-neighbor ferromagnetic interactions of strength -J are superimposed on nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions of strength K. A rich critical behavior is found due to the competing interactions. At zero temperature two ordered phases exist in the D/J-K/J plane, namely the ferromagnetic (F) and the antiferromagnetic one (AF). For lower values of D/J(D/J<0.25) these two ordered phases are separated by the point K_{c}=0.25J. For 0.25<D/J≤0.50, the paramagnetic phase P emerges in a region separated between the lines determined by D/J=0.5-K/J and D/J=K/J. For D/J>0.5, only phases AF and F exist and are separated by a line given by D/J=K/J. At finite temperatures, we found that the ferromagnetic region of the phase diagram in the k_{B}T/J-D/J plane is enriched by another ferromagnetic phase F^{^{'}} above a first-order line for 0.195<K/J<0.250. This first-order line, which separates phases F and F^{^{'}}, begins at a coexistence point, where phases F,F^{^{'}}, and P coexist, and ends at an ordered critical point. Similarly, we found that the phase F^{^{'}} is present in the phase diagram in the k_{B}T/J-K/J plane for 0.228<D/J<0.286.
In the framework of mean field approximation, we consider a spin system consisting of two interacting sub-ensembles. The intra-ensemble interactions are ferromagnetic, while the inter-ensemble interactions are antiferromagnetic. We define the effective number of the nearest neighbors and show that if the two sub-ensembles have the same effective number of the nearest neighbors, the classical form of critical exponents (α=0, β=1/2, γ=γ'=1, δ=3) gives way to the non-classical form (α=0, β=3/2, γ=γ'=0, δ=1), and the scaling function changes simultaneously. We demonstrate that this system allows for two second-order phase transitions and two first-order phase transitions. We observe that an external magnetic field does not destroy the phase transitions but only shifts their critical points, allowing for control of the system's parameters. We discuss the regime when the magnetization as a function of the magnetic field develops a low-magnetization plateau and show that the height of this plateau abruptly rises to the value of one when the magnetic field reaches a critical value. Our analytical results are supported by a Monte Carlo simulation of a three-dimensional layered model.
In a pioneer work, John Nagle has shown that an Ising chain with competing short and long-range interactions displays second and first-order phase transitions separated by a tricritical point. More recently, it has been claimed that Nagle's model provides an example of the inequivalence between canonical and microcanonical calculations. We then revisit Nagle's original solution, as well as the usual formulation of the problem in a canonical ensemble, which lead to the same results. Also, in contrast to recent claims, we show that an alternative formulation in the microcanonical ensemble, with the adequate choice of the fixed thermodynamic extensive variables, leads to equivalent thermodynamic results.
We introduce two variants of the Blume--Emery--Griffiths model with long-range, mean-field-like interactions and quenched disorder. Although the two variants are described by different Hamiltonians, they yield the same free energy. Moreover, both Hamiltonians lead to the same average energy and hence to the same microcanonical entropy. The canonical and microcanonical phase boundaries differ markedly, and so does the multicritical behaviour of the two ensembles. In the microcanonical ensemble, tricritical points appear for any fraction of active spins, whereas in the canonical ensemble they emerge only when this fraction is sufficiently large. At lower fractions, canonical critical endpoints arise instead. We also report the formation of gaps in the entropy as a function of magnetization, another manifestation of ensemble inequivalence.