The definitions and determination of the thermodynamic magnetic critical point exponents α, α′, β, γ, γ′ and δ are reviewed, and ``gap exponents'' Δ and Δ′ for the divergences of higher derivatives of the free energy with respect to the field are introduced. The rigorous inequalities relating the exponents are discussed. The ``microdomain'' or ``cluster'' model of ferromagnetism leads to relations between these exponents since it expresses them in terms of two underlying exponents σ and τ. The exponent σ is directly related to the effective surface free energy of a large microdomain and thence to the dimensionality. This yields some insight into the meaning of the observed exponent values and of the differences between the critical behavior of the Ising and Heisenberg models. The recently developed homogeneity and scaling arguments are presented. These generate the same thermodynamic exponent relations and further ones for the correlation exponents η, ν and ν′. They also indicate that a general law of corresponding states might hold in the critical region. Theoretical and experimental evidence on the validity of these various ideas is briefly reviewed.
The definitions and determination of the thermodynamic magnetic critical point exponents α, α′, β, γ, γ′ and δ are reviewed, and gap exponents'' Δ and Δ′ for the divergences of higher derivatives of the free energy with respect to the field are introduced. The rigorous inequalities relating the exponents are discussed. The microdomain'' or ``cluster'' model of ferromagnetism leads to relations between these exponents since it expresses them in terms of two underlying exponents σ and τ. The exponent σ is directly related to the effective surface free energy of a large microdomain and thence to the dimensionality. This yields some insight into the meaning of the observed exponent values and of the differences between the critical behavior of the Ising and Heisenberg models. The recently developed homogeneity and scaling arguments are presented. These generate the same thermodynamic exponent relations and further ones for the correlation exponents η, ν and ν′. They also indicate that a general law of corresponding states might hold in the critical region. Theoretical and experimental evidence on the validity of these various ideas is briefly reviewed.
Simple but rigorous derivations are presented for the inequalities2−η≤dγ′/(2β+γ′)≤dγ′/(2−α′),2−η≤d(δ−1)/(δ+1),γ≤(2−η)ν.(Proofs of the first two inequalities have been given by Buckingham and Gunton.1) Here d is the dimensionality and α′, β, γ, γ′ and δ are the exponents characterizing a ferromagnet near its critical point,2 while η and ν describe the decay of the corresponding spin-spin correlation functions2 Γ2(r)=〈S0zSrz〉, according to ∑ |r|<RΓ2(r)∼R2−η(T=Tc,H=0,R→∞),κ1∼(T−Tc)ν,(T→Tc,H=0),where the inverse range of correlation κ1 may be defined by κ1−2=[Σrr2Γ2(r)]/[ΣrΓ2(r)]. The corresponding exponent ηE for the energy-energy correlation function (essentially Γ4(r, a)−[Γ(a)]2, where Γ4(r, a)=〈S0zSazSrzSr+az〉) is proved to satisfy 2−ηE≤dα′,2−ηE≤dαc/(1+ζ+αc),where the specific heat CM at T=Tc diverges with the magnetization as M−αc while the energy derivative | ∂U/∂M |Tc varies as Mζ. (Mean Field or classical values are αc=0, ζ=1.) The proofs are based on the ``intuitively obvious'' properties: (a) positivity, namely, Γ1=〈S0z〉≥0,Γ(r)−Γ12≥0,Γ4(r, a)−[Γ2(a)]2≥0, and (b) monotonic increase of Γ1, Γ2 and Γ4 under increase of magnetic field and decrease of temperature. These properties are known3 to be rigorously valid for Ising models of arbitrary spin, lattice structure and ferromagnetic coupling (Jij≥0). Their validity for real magnets together with the experimental observation δ≤4.7 leads to the significant conclusion η≥0.05.
The theory of critical phenomena in systems at equilibrium is reviewed at an introductory level with special emphasis on the values of the critical point exponents α, β, γ,..., and their interrelations. The experimental observations are surveyed and the analogies between different physical systems - fluids, magnets, superfluids, binary alloys, etc. - are developed phenomenologically. An exact theoretical basis for the analogies follows from the equivalence between classical and quantal `lattice gases' and the Ising and Heisenberg-Ising magnetic models. General rigorous inequalities for critical exponents at and below T c are derived. The nature and validity of the `classical' (phenomenological and mean field) theories are discussed, their predictions being contrasted with the exact results for plane Ising models, which are summarized concisely. Padé approximant and ratio techniques applied to appropriate series expansions lead to precise critical-point estimates for the three-dimensional Heisenberg and Ising models (tables of data are presented). With this background a critique is presented of recent theoretical ideas: namely, the `droplet' picture of the critical point and the `homogeneity' and `scaling' hypotheses. These lead to a `law of corresponding states' near a critical point and to relations between the various exponents which suggest that perhaps only two or three exponents might be algebraically independent for any system.
"Critical point phenomena in magnetic systems are studied with the aid of the scaling laws. These laws relate the critical indices which describe the behavior of thermodynamic and correlation functions near T. Kadanoff's derivation of the scaling 1aw is reviewed. An experimental survey of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic data near T is presented. Susceptibility, correlation length, magnectization, specific heat and a magnetic equation of state are discussed. It is found that the ""critical region"" can extend as far as [equation] although frequently it is restricted to E < 10-2 The critical indices S, y, v, ~ and ~, are close to the three dimensional ISing model values. Values for 0, y' and ~ are not known as conclusively. Specific heat behavior is discussed in terms -~ of a three-parameter fit, namely C = aE + b. Varying b allows one to estimate a possible range of a's. The experimental information is consistent with the scaling law relations 2 - alpha = 2 - alpha' = dV = d gamma / (2-pi) = gamma + 2B = B(d+1) The scaling law theory is extended to predict the temperature, field and spatial dependence of various spin correlation functions. These predictions are checked by analytic calculations for the two dimensional Ising model in zero field. Results are presented for the energy density-energy density and energy density-spin correlation functions in the limit E « 1, R » 1, but the product ER arbitrary. Results are also presented for a group of two, three and four spin correlations at cT. In each case the scaling law predictions are verified."
For pt. II, see abstr. A64455 of 1973. The critical-point exponents of two Ising models with pure three-spin coupling terms are examined using low-temperature (T<T c ) series expansions for the thermodynamic functions. In particular the critical isotherm exponent delta is examined by applying numerical extrapolation methods to the critical isotherm. The two models are (a) a two-dimensional triangular lattice and (b) a three-dimensional face-centred cubic lattice. Direct numerical estimates of alpha ', beta and delta for (b) show that the scaling relations hold for this model and it is found that alpha '=0.655, beta =0.0538, gamma =1.24, nu =0.448, eta =-0.76, and delta =24 on the basis of the scaling relations. The numerical accuracy of the exponents beta and delta for model (a) does not permit an independent verification of the scaling relations; assuming scaling to hold here also, and using the exact result alpha '= 2 / 3 obtained by Baxter and Wu, it is found that gamma '=1.187+or-0.006, nu = 2 / 3 , eta =0.219+or-0.009, beta =0.073+or-0.003, and delta =17.3+or-0.8.
We report extensive Monte Carlo simulations of disordered Ising systems in the ferromagnetic region with concentrations of magnetic sites between p=1.0 and 0.5. The magnetization, the susceptibility, and the caloric properties have been studied in the critical region. The critical exponents \ensuremath{\beta} and \ensuremath{\gamma} as well as the universal amplitude A of the magnetization and the ratio C+/${\mathit{C}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ of the susceptibility amplitudes have been determined with high precision. In addition to the cusplike specific heat, we have also measured the magnetization-energy correlation function \ensuremath{\Gamma}, which is a divergent thermal quantity. The corresponding critical exponent \ensuremath{\zeta}, which is related to the other exponents by \ensuremath{\zeta}=1-\ensuremath{\beta}=(\ensuremath{\alpha}+\ensuremath{\gamma})/2, has been determined. We have found that all quantities show power-law behavior within the temperature range of our simulation. All critical exponents change continuously with dilution. Even in the range of weak dilution (p\ensuremath{\ge}0.8), the effective critical exponents are concentration dependent and are clearly different from their pure system values. In the strongly diluted regime the critical exponents gradually reach new asymptotic behavior at p=0.5--0.6 with values of \ensuremath{\beta}=0.335\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01 and \ensuremath{\gamma}=1.49\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02. The exponent \ensuremath{\alpha} of the specific heat becomes -0.17\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, which corresponds to a cusplike singularity. We conclude that disorder profoundly changes the critical behavior for weakly as well as strongly disordered spin systems.