We discuss, within a real-space renormalization-group, interesting thermal effects (surface singularity at the bulk transition ; Ising-Heisenberg crossover) concerning the free surface of a semi-infinite d = 3 spin 1/2 anisotropic Heisenberg ferromagnet. Comparison with the Mermin-Wagner theorem and with experimental work is done.
Within a simple real space renormalization group scheme, we study the phase diagram of the d = 3 semi-infinite anisotropic Heisenberg ferromagnet with surface (bulk) coupling constant J s ( J B ) and anisotropy η s (η B ). We exhibit, in particular, the interesting effects of η s and η B on the (multicritical) ratio J s / J B above which surface order becomes observable even if bulk order is absent. Enhancement occurs for an Ising-like free surface (η s ≃ 1) on top of an isotropic-Heisenberg-like bulk (η B ≃ 0).
We use a Migdal-Kadanoff-like renormalization group approach to study the critical behaviour of a semi-infinite simple cubic Ising ferromagnet whose (1, 0, 0) free surface contains anisotropic (in spin space) Heisenberg ferromagnetic interactions. The phase diagram presents three phases (namely the paramagnetic, the bulk ferromagnetic and the surface ferromagnetic ones) which join on a multicritical point The location of this point is calculated as a function of the anisotropy. The various universality classes of the problem are exhibited.
We consider two semi-infinite spin-1/2 Ising media (respectively characterized by the ferromagnetic coupling constants J1 and J2) separated by a spin-1/2 anisotropic Heisenberg interface (characterized by a ferromagnetic coupling constant JS and by an anisotropy \ensuremath{\eta}\ensuremath{\in}[0,1] in spin space; \ensuremath{\eta}=1 and \ensuremath{\eta}=0, respectively, correspond to the Ising and isotropic Heisenberg limits). Within a real-space renormalization-group framework, we discuss the full phase diagram; this diagram exhibits, besides the paramagnetic phase, three physically different ordered phases, namely the double-bulk, single-bulk, and surface ferromagnetic ones. We also analyze the various universality classes appearing in this problem, and determine, in particular, the existence of a new high-order multicritical point associated with the J1=J2 case.
We use simple position-space renormalization-group procedures involving only nearest-neighbor interactions to discuss the critical behavior of the ferromagnetically coupled semi-infinite Ising model with a free surface in two and three dimensions. In three dimensions for suitably enhanced surface couplings there are surface transitions and simultaneous surface-bulk transitions as well as the bulk transition. A phase diagram, critical exponents for the various transitions, and some representative magnetization profiles are calculated. Despite their simplicity, the renormalization transformations exhibit complete sets of fixed points for describing the various phase transitions and yield phase diagrams which are a significant improvement over mean-field theory. However, the calculated magnetization profiles show some unphysical features due to the finite cluster size on which the transformations are based.