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arXiv:2605.25946 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Relevant-marginal field mixing resolves the four-state Potts endpoint in the square-lattice J 1 – J 2 Ising model

Anonymous, Yuchen Fan

Published Aug 10, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Identifying endpoint criticality is challenging because pseudo-first-order signatures can persist over accessible system sizes and obscure the underlying scaling behavior. This difficulty is especially acute in the frustrated square-lattice \(J_1\)--\(J_2\) Ising model, where the location and even the nature of the stripe-ordering endpoint have remained controversial for decades. Here we treat this endpoint as a relevant--marginal two-field scaling problem and develop a generalized field-mixing construction to resolve the endpoint ambiguity. Mixed-histogram symmetry defines a finite-size pseudotransition manifold, transforming pseudo-first-order finite-size structure into a scaling trajectory on which the normal relevant detuning is removed and the residual marginal drift is exposed. Along this manifold, Binder analysis locates the endpoint as a distinct singular point, while mixed-histogram scaling, comparison with the Ashkin--Teller Potts point, and complementary Binder scaling establish four-state Potts endpoint criticality with logarithmic corrections.

DOI
10.1103/8yb7-rs6t

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Identifying endpoint criticality is challenging because pseudo-first-order signatures can persist over accessible system sizes and obscure the underlying scaling behavior. This difficulty is especially acute in the frustrated square-lattice (J_1)--(J_2) Ising model, where the location and even the nature of the stripe-ordering endpoint have remained controversial for decades. Here we treat this endpoint as a relevant--marginal two-field scaling problem and develop a generalized field-mixing construction to resolve the endpoint ambiguity. Mixed-histogram symmetry defines a finite-size pseudotransition manifold, transforming pseudo-first-order finite-size structure into a scaling trajectory on which the normal relevant detuning is removed and the residual marginal drift is exposed. Along this manifold, Binder analysis locates the endpoint as a distinct singular point, while mixed-histogram scaling, comparison with the Ashkin--Teller Potts point, and complementary Binder scaling establish four-state Potts endpoint criticality with logarithmic corrections.
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{J}_{1}<0J1​<0 (nearest neighbor, ferromagnetic) and J2>0{J}_{2}>0J2​>0 (second neighbor, antiferromagnetic). The striped phase breaks a Z4{Z}_{4}Z4​ symmetry and is stabilized at low temperatures for g=J2/∣J1∣>1/2g={J}_{2}/|{J}_{1}|>1/2g=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{J}_{1}J1​-J2{J}_{2}J2​ model has a line of very weak first-order phase transitions in the whole region 1/2<g<g∗1/2<g<{g}^{*}1/2<g<g∗, where ${g}^{*}=0.67\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01$. Thereafter, the transitions from g=g∗g={g}^{*}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∗{g}^{*}g∗ in the J1{J}_{1}J1​-J2{J}_{2}J2​ model. The continuous transitions near g∗{g}^{*}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>1/2g>1/2g>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.
We study the challenging thermal phase transition to stripe order in the frustrated square-lattice Ising model with couplings J(1) < 0 (nearest-neighbor, ferromagnetic) and J(2) > 0 (second-neighbor, antiferromagnetic) for g = J(2)/|J(1| > 1/2. Using Monte Carlo simulations and known analytical results, we demonstrate Ashkin-Teller criticality for g ≥ g*; i.e., the critical exponents vary continuously between those of the 4-state Potts model at g = g* and the Ising model for g → ∞. Thus, stripe transitions offer a route to realizing a related class of conformal field theories with conformal charge c = 1 and varying exponents. The transition is first order for g < g* = 0.67 ± 0.01, much lower than previously believed, and exhibits pseudo-first-order behavior for |g* ≤ g </~1.
Spin systems exposed to the influence of random magnetic fields are paradigmatic examples for studying the effect of quenched disorder on condensed-matter systems. In this context, previous studies have almost exclusively focused on systems with Ising or continuous symmetries, while the Potts symmetry, albeit being of fundamental importance also for the description of realistic physical systems, has received very little attention. In the present study, we use a recently developed quasiexact method for determining ground states in the random-field Potts model to study the problem with four states. Extending the protocol applied for the three-state model, we use extensive finite-size scaling analyses of the magnetization, Binder parameter, energy cumulant, specific heat, and the connected as well as disconnected susceptibilities to study the magnetic ordering transition of the model. In contrast to the system in the absence of disorder, we find compelling evidence for a continuous transition, and we precisely determine the critical point as well as the critical exponents, which are found to differ from the exponents of the three-state system as well as from those of the random-field Ising model.
By using extensive tensor network calculations, we map out the phase diagram of the frustrated J_{1}-J_{2} Ising model on the square lattice. In particular, we focus on the cases with controversy in the phase diagram, especially the stripe transition in the regime g=|J_{2}/J_{1}|>1/2 (J_{2}>0,J_{1}<0). While recent studies claimed that the phase transition is of first order when 1/2<g<g^{*} (with the smallest g^{*} being 0.67), our simulations suggest that if there is such a first-order region, it is smaller than those found in earlier studies by other methods. Combining with the analysis of critical properties, we provide evidence that the classical J_{1}-J_{2} model evolves continuously from two decoupled Ising models (g→∞ with central charge c=1) to a point belonging to the tricritical Ising universality class (with c=0.7) as g decreases to g^{*}≃0.54.
A theory of the scaling behavior near the qc=4{q}_{c}=4qc​=4 state multicritical point of the two-dimensional Potts lattice gas model is developed. Proceeding from the assumption that a dilution field becomes marginal at the multicritical point while the thermal and ordering fields are relevant, a set of differential renormalization group (RG) equations for these fields are constructed. Keeping terms through second order we find that these equations are characterized by five universal parameters which we evaluate using exact as well as conjectured results. Based upon these RG equations, we investigate the physical properties of the two-dimensional Potts lattice gas for qqq near qc{q}_{c}qc​. For the pure Potts model with q=qcq={q}_{c}q=qc​ we find logarithmic temperature corrections to the specific heat and the spontaneous magnetization. At Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ we find ln(r)\mathrm{ln}(r)ln(r) corrections to the power law behavior of the spin-spin correlation function. For the dilute Potts model with q=qcq={q}_{c}q=qc​ we find that the latent heat, the discontinuity in the magnetization, and the discontinuity in the coexisting densities vanish with an essential singularity as TTT approaches the multicritical point from the first-order side. Results for q>qcq>{q}_{c}q>qc​ and q<qcq<{q}_{c}q<qc​ are also given.
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.