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Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

A General Theory of the Second Order Phase Transition. I

Takeo Izuyama

Published Jan 1, 1967• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The critical phenomenon of the second order phase transition is considered for temperatures above the critical point. A general phenomenological approach is developed. The generalized free energy F[{η q }: T ] is introduced. It is a functional of the Fourier component η q of the local order parameter η( r ). A general property of the correlation function <η q η - q > is established rigorously. The equilibrium free energy and the wave-number dependent susceptibility χ q are expressed in terms of the linked clusters, large clusters corresponding to highr order fluctuation of the order parameter. The general rule for calculating the contribution of each cluster is given. The rule is shown to be very simple. It is found that the specific heat is expressed as a sum of the temperature derivatives of χ q 's. As an example of the application of the linked cluster method, the susceptibility is calculated in the vicinity of the critical point by summing up the clusters that are most divergent when approaching the criticat point. The linked cluster expansion developed here could be a clue to the whole mystery of the singularity at the critical point.

DOI
10.1143/jpsj.22.58

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The critical phenomenon of the second order phase transition is considered for temperatures above the critical point. A general phenomenological approach is developed. The generalized free energy F[{η q }: T ] is introduced. It is a functional of the Fourier component η q of the local order parameter η( r ). A general property of the correlation function <η q η - q > is established rigorously. The equilibrium free energy and the wave-number dependent susceptibility χ q are expressed in terms of the linked clusters, large clusters corresponding to highr order fluctuation of the order parameter. The general rule for calculating the contribution of each cluster is given. The rule is shown to be very simple. It is found that the specific heat is expressed as a sum of the temperature derivatives of χ q 's. As an example of the application of the linked cluster method, the susceptibility is calculated in the vicinity of the critical point by summing up the clusters that are most divergent when approaching the criticat point. The linked cluster expansion developed here could be a clue to the whole mystery of the singularity at the critical point.
To set the stage for our subsequent thorough discussion of dynamic critical phenomena, we first review the theoretical description of second-order equilibrium phase transitions. (Readers already well acquainted with this material may readily move on to Chapter 2.) To this end, we compare the critical exponents following from the van-der-Waals equation of state for weakly interacting gases with the results from the Curie–Weiss mean-field approximation for the ferromagnetic Ising model. We then provide a unifying description in terms of Landau–Ginzburg theory, i.e., a long-wavelength expansion of the effective free energy with respect to the order parameter. The Gaussian model is analyzed, and a quantitative criterion is established that defines the circumstances when non-linear fluctuations need to be taken into account properly. Thereby we identify d c = 4 as the upper critical dimension for generic continuous phase transitions in thermal equilibrium. The most characteristic feature of a critical point turns out to be the divergence of the correlation length that renders microscopic details oblivious. As a consequence, not only the correlation functions, but remarkably the thermodynamics as well of a critical system are governed by an emergent unusual symmetry: scale invariance. A simple scaling ansatz is capable of linking different critical exponents; as an application, we introduce the basic elements of finite-size scaling. Finally, a brief sketch of Wilson's momentum shell renormalization group method is presented, intended as a pedagogical preview of the fundamental RG ideas. Exploiting the scale invariance properties at the critical point, the scaling forms of the free energy and the order parameter correlation function are derived.
Expressions for general correlation functions in Ising ferromagnets are derived in terms of the Lee-Yang theorem. By the use of these expressions, the asymptotic forms of correlation functions in the presence of magnetic field are analyzed, assuming those in the absence of the external field. In particular, the critical indices of spin-spin, energy-density-energy-density, energy-density-spin correlation functions are related with the critical indices of thermal susceptiblity χT0, specific heat, susceptibility χH0, and magnetization. These results agree in form with those predicted by the scaling law approach.
A general relation between the critical specific heat above and below a second-order phase transition is derived. It is expressed in terms of the effective four-point coupling u(l)u(l)u(l) of the Ginzburg-Landau Hamiltonian and is valid in the entire region between asymptotic criticality and noncritical background behavior. Application to the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ transition of 4He^{4}\mathrm{He}4He yields excellent agreement with the fixed-point value u∗=u(0){u}^{*}=u(0)u∗=u(0) predicted by high-order perturbation theory.
Abstract This chapter is devoted to a brief review of general properties of phase transitions in macroscopic physics and, in particular in lattice models. Some of these lattice models actually appear as lattice regularizations of Euclidean (imaginary time) quantum physics theory (QFT). Most of the transitions considered in this work have the following character: spins on the lattice, or macroscopic particles in the continuum, interact through short-range forces, assumed, for simplicity, to decay exponentially. For simple systems, it is possible to find a local observable, called order parameter, whose expectation values depend on the phase in the several phase region, for example, the spin in ferromagnetic systems. In the disordered phase, the connected two-point function decreases exponentially at large distance, at a rate characterized by the correlation length (the inverse of the smallest physical mass in particle physics). In continuous transitions, the correlation length diverges at the critical temperature. Within the mean-field approximation (consistent with Landau's theory of critical phenomena), it can be shown that the singular behaviour of thermodynamic quantities at the critical temperature is universal. These properties can also be reproduced by calculating correlation functions with a perturbed Gaussian measure. It is then shown that the leading corrections to the mean-field approximation, in Ising-like systems, diverge at the critical temperature for dimensions smaller than or equal to 444.
A semi-phenomenological theory is developed on the basis of some assumptions in order to study the singularities of thermodynamic quantities in the vicinity of the Curie point. First, microscopic expressions are found for the coefficients in the expansion of the thermodynamic potential in terms of cumulants. Cumulants of all order are calculated in the one-dimensional Ising model, and the series expansion of the fourth order cumulant is also obtained in the two-dimensional Ising model. The three-dimensional Heisenberg model is also discussed, using the result of Rushbrooke et al. In all cases, the fourth order coefficient in the expansion of the thermodynamic potential tends to zero at the Curie points. And, in the last case, the eighth order coefficient diverges at the Curie point.
A linked cluster expansion for a system of Ising spins is rearranged into a form suitable for studying the phase transition of the system. A function I(q) analogous to proper self-energy part in quantum theory is introduced and shown to play an important role to determine both the transition temperature and the singularity of thermodynamic functions at the transition point. The case above the transition temperature and without magnetic field is considered, and it is proved that diagrams for I(q) dominant near the transition point have precisely the same structure as in the system of Bose fluid. Thus the method developed by Patashinsky and Pokrovsky for the latter case is taken over to the present problem and leads to a logarithmic singularity of specific heat.