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Physical Review Letters

Universality and interfaces at critical end points

Michael Ellis Fisher, Paul J. Upton

Published Nov 5, 1990• 101 citations
Publisher

Abstract

At a critical end point a critical phase coexists with a noncritical phase \ensuremath{\alpha} and singularities arise beyond those on the associated critical line. New universal amplitude ratios are defined for the shape of the \ensuremath{\alpha}-phase boundary and for the noncritical surface tensions near end points. A postulated correspondence with wall/surface criticality leads to predictions for general dimension d that are exact at (and near) d=2 and for d\ensuremath{\ge}4 (where mean-field theory applies) and yield experimentally testable estimates for d=3.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.65.2402

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At a critical end point a critical phase coexists with a noncritical phase \ensuremath{\alpha} and singularities arise beyond those on the associated critical line. New universal amplitude ratios are defined for the shape of the \ensuremath{\alpha}-phase boundary and for the noncritical surface tensions near end points. A postulated correspondence with wall/surface criticality leads to predictions for general dimension d that are exact at (and near) d=2 and for d\ensuremath{\ge}4 (where mean-field theory applies) and yield experimentally testable estimates for d=3.
We study d-dimensional ferromagnetic spherical models with power-law, J(R)\ensuremath{\sim}1/${\mathit{R}}^{\mathit{d}+\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}$ (\ensuremath{\sigma}2), or short-range (\ensuremath{\sigma}\ensuremath{\simeq}2) interactions and on-site terms of the form Ds2{\mathit{Ds}}^{2}Ds2-\ensuremath{\Vert}U\ensuremath{\Vert}s4{\mathit{s}}^{4}s4+Vs6{\mathit{Vs}}^{6}Vs6, and establish that the phase diagrams for all d and \ensuremath{\sigma} with \ensuremath{\sigma}d2\ensuremath{\sigma}, may exhibit critical end points terminating nonclassical critical lines; tricritical points may arise only for 3/2\ensuremath{\sigma}\ensuremath{\le}d. The phase boundary ${\mathit{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}$(T,h), where h is the magnetic field, between the noncritical, spectator phase and the ordering and critical phase is shown to exhibit singularities at the end point with amplitudes obeying the universal ratio laws advanced on phenomenological grounds in Part I.
We have shown that several critical amplitude ratios are universal in the critical phenomena near the surface. The general statement on the number of the scaling relations among surface critical exponents and the surface universal amplitude ratios is given. The universal scaling function for the equation of state in the presence of surface is discussed. We have calculated the amplitude ratios and the scaling function for the ordinary, special, and extraordinary transitions in the mean-field approximation.
This article outlines a tutorial review of some recent progress in the theory of phase transitions and criticality. Topics mentioned are: |φ|6 field theories in (d=3)-dimensional space which correspond to the limits of tricriticality in spherical models; the desirability of finding real systems displaying critical endpoints, etc., in a magnetic field; scaling theories for first-order magnetic transitions in block and cylinder geometries, including spin-wave contributions, ϵ=4 - d expansions for finite-size effects at and near criticality; the universal correlation length amplitude for critical-point correlations in a finite cylinder and its evaluation in d = 2 dimensions on the basis of conformal covariance; the predictions of conformal covariance for other finite-size and surface critical-point properties; the implications, stemming from field theory, of conformal covariance and unitarity for general criticality in two dimensions, including infinitely many sets of exact critical exponents for Ising-like, three-state Potts-like, … systems; the discovery of new, exactly soluble two-dimensional, “restricted solid-on-solid” models which display all the predicted conformally covariant multicritical points and a second infinite set as well!