Physical Review Letters
Phase Transition in the n>2 Honeycomb O(n) Model
Wenan Guo, Henk W. J. Blöte, Fa Yueh Wu
Abstract
We determine the phase diagram of the O(n) loop model on the honeycomb lattice, in particular, in the range n>2, by means of a transfer-matrix method. We find that, contrary to the prevailing expectation, there is a line of critical points in the range between n = 2 and infinity. This phase transition, which belongs to the three-state Potts universality class, is unphysical in terms of the O(n) spin model, but falls inside the physical region of the n-component corner-cubic model. It can also be interpreted in terms of the ordering of a system of soft particles with hexagonal symmetry.