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.
We investigate the dynamical spreading of spatial correlations after a quantum quench starting from a magnetically disordered state in the transverse-field Ising model at one (1D) and two spatial dimensions (2D). We analyze specifically the longitudinal and transverse spin-spin correlation functions at equal time with use of several methods. From the comparison of the results in 1D obtained by the linear spin-wave approximation (LSWA) and those obtained by the rigorous analytical approach, we show that the LSWA can asymptotically reproduce the exact group velocity in the limit of strong transverse fields while it fails to capture the detailed time dependence of the correlation functions. By applying the LSWA to the 2D case, in which the rigorous analytical approach is unavailable, we estimate the propagation velocity to be $Ja/(2\ensuremath{\hbar})$ at the strong-field limit, where
J is the Ising interaction and
a is the lattice spacing. We also utilize the tensor-network method based on the projected-entangled pair states for 2D and quantitatively compute the time evolution of the correlation functions for a relatively short time. Our findings provide useful benchmarks for quantum simulation experiments of correlation spreading and theoretical refinement of the Lieb-Robinson bound in the future.
The random transverse-field Ising ferromagnet (RTFIF) is a highly disordered quantum system which contains randomness in the coupling strengths as well as in the transverse-field strengths. In one dimension, the critical properties are governed by an infinite-randomness fixed point (IRFP), and renormalization-group studies argue that the two-dimensional (2D) model is also governed by an IRFP. However, even the location of the critical point remains unsettled among quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) studies. In this work, we perform extensive QMC simulations to locate the quantum critical point and attempt a finite-size scaling analysis to observe the critical behavior. We estimate the critical field strength of the 2D RTFIF as ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}}_{c}=7.52(2)$, together with critical exponents such as $\ensuremath{\beta}=1.5(3), \ensuremath{\nu}=1.6(3)$, and
z=3.3(3) or $\ensuremath{\psi}=0.50(3)$. We have also considered the McCoy-Wu model, which has randomness in the ferromagnetic coupling strengths but not in the transverse-field strength. Our QMC calculation shows that the critical behavior of the 2D McCoy-Wu model is closer to that of the 2D transverse-field Ising spin glass than to that of the 2D RTFIF. These numerical findings enhance our understanding of disordered 2D quantum systems.