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Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Critical and finite-size behavior of the Heisenberg model with face-centered-cubic anisotropy

Lyle D. Roelofs, Charles S. Jackson

Published Jan 1, 1993• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The disordering transition of half a monolayer of chemisorbed oxygen on Ru(001) can be classified in the universality class of the two-dimensional Heisenberg model with face-centered anisotropy. Theoretical studies of this class suggest fluctuation-induced first-order-transition behavior. Experimental study of the O/Ru(001) system, on the other hand, reveals a continuous phase transition with exponents near those of the three-state Potts model. We have investigated this discrepancy via Monte Carlo simulations of the Heisenberg model using the histogram method to determine transition order, focusing on two possible resolutions of the discrepancy: (1) finite-size rounding might be expected to render the experimental transition apparently continuous even if it is actually first order; or (2) transition order might depend on the details of the interaction energies. Despite its seeming inconsistency with the standard understanding of universality, we have strong evidence for the latter explanation; there appears to be a parameter regime of second-order behavior within standard ferromagnetic Heisenberg symmetry. We delineate this breakdown of universality and speculate as to its mechanism.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.47.197

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The disordering transition of half a monolayer of chemisorbed oxygen on Ru(001) can be classified in the universality class of the two-dimensional Heisenberg model with face-centered anisotropy. Theoretical studies of this class suggest fluctuation-induced first-order-transition behavior. Experimental study of the O/Ru(001) system, on the other hand, reveals a continuous phase transition with exponents near those of the three-state Potts model. We have investigated this discrepancy via Monte Carlo simulations of the Heisenberg model using the histogram method to determine transition order, focusing on two possible resolutions of the discrepancy: (1) finite-size rounding might be expected to render the experimental transition apparently continuous even if it is actually first order; or (2) transition order might depend on the details of the interaction energies. Despite its seeming inconsistency with the standard understanding of universality, we have strong evidence for the latter explanation; there appears to be a parameter regime of second-order behavior within standard ferromagnetic Heisenberg symmetry. We delineate this breakdown of universality and speculate as to its mechanism.
Abstract A great triumph of statistical physics in the latter part of the 20th century was the understanding of critical behavior and universality at second-order phase transitions. In contrast, first-order transitions were believed to have no common features. However, we argue that the classic, first-order “spin-flop” transition (between the antiferromagnetic and the rotationally degenerate, canted state) in an anisotropic antiferromagnet in a magnetic field exhibits a new kind of universality. We present a finite-size scaling theory for a first-order phase transition where a continuous symmetry is broken using an approximation of Gaussian probability distributions with a phenomenological degeneracy factor “q” included, where “q” characterizes the relative degeneracy of the ordered phases. Predictions are compared with high resolution Monte Carlo simulations of the three-dimensional, XXZ Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a field to study the finite-size behavior for L×L×L simple cubic lattices. The field dependence of all moments of the order parameters exhibit universal intersections at the spin-flop transition. Our Monte Carlo data agree with theoretical predictions for asymptotic large L behavior. Our theory yields q = π, and we present numerical evidence that is compatible with this prediction. The agreement between the theory and simulation implies a heretofore unknown universality.
Using Monte Carlo and renormalization group methods, we investigate systems with critical behavior described by two order parameters: continuous (vector) and discrete (scalar). We consider two models of classical three-dimensional Heisenberg magnets with different numbers of spin components N = 1,…,4: the model on a cubic lattice with an additional competing antiferromagnetic exchange interaction in a layer and the model on a body-centered lattice with two competing antiferromagnetic interactions. In both models, we observe a first-order transition for all values of N. In the case where competing exchanges are approximately equal, the first order of a transition is close to the second order, and pseudoscaling behavior is observed with critical exponents differing from those of the O(N) model. In the case N = 2, the critical exponents are consistent with the well-known indices of the class of magnets with a noncollinear spin ordering. We also give a possible explanation of the observed pseudoscaling in the framework of the renormalization group analysis.
We have studied the critical properties of the three-dimensional random anisotropy Heisenberg model by means of numerical simulations using the Parallel Tempering method. We have simulated the model with two different disorder distributions, cubic and isotropic ones, with two different anisotropy strengths for each disorder class. For the case of the anisotropic disorder, we have found evidence of universality by finding critical exponents and universal dimensionless ratios independent of the strength of the disorder. In the case of isotropic disorder distribution the situation is very involved: we have found two phase transitions in the magnetization channel which are merging for larger lattices remaining a zero magnetization low-temperature phase. Studying this region using a spin-glass order parameter we have found evidence for a spin-glass phase transition. We have estimated effective critical exponents for the spin-glass phase transition for the different values of the strength of the isotropic disorder, discussing the crossover regime.
Phase transitions and critical properties in the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a layered cubic lattice with allowance for intralayer next nearest neighbor interactions have been studied using the replica Monte Carlo algorithm. The character of phase transitions has been analyzed using the histogram method and the Binder cumulant method. It has been found that a transition from the collinear to paramagnetic phase in the model under study occurs as a second order phase transition. The statistical critical exponents of the specific heat α, susceptibility γ, order parameter β, and correlation radius ν, as well as the Fisher index η, have been calculated using the finite-size scaling theory. It has been shown that the three-dimensional Heisenberg model on the layered cubic lattice with allowance for the next nearest neighbor interaction belongs to the same universality class of the critical behavior as the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a layered triangular lattice.
We investigate the nature of the critical behaviour of the random-anisotropy Heisenberg model (RAM), which describes magnetic systems with random uniaxial single-site anisotropy, such as some amorphous alloys of rare earths and transition metals. In particular, we consider the strong-anisotropy limit (SRAM), in which the Hamiltonian can be rewritten as the one of an Ising spin-glass model with correlated bond disorder. We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the SRAM on simple cubic lattices of linear size L , up to L = 30, measuring correlation functions of the replica–replica overlap, which is the order parameter at a glass transition. The corresponding results show critical behaviour and finite-size scaling. They provide evidence of a finite-temperature continuous transition with critical exponents η o = −0.24(4) and ν o = 2.4(6). These results are close to the corresponding estimates that have been obtained in the usual Ising spin-glass model with uncorrelated bond disorder, suggesting that the two models belong to the same universality class. We also determine the leading correction-to-scaling exponent, finding ω = 1.0(4).
Scaling, universality, and renormalization are three pillars of modern critical phenomena. According to the hypothesis of universality, continuous phase transitions fall into classes mainly determined by spatial dimensionality and symmetry of the order parameter. The latter is usually reflected by the degeneracy of the ground state of the Hamiltonian. However, for certain systems at criticality, a higher symmetry emerges in the order parameter, and the associated critical behavior may become very rich. Such emergent symmetry has been found in spin ice systems, deconfined quantum critical points, high-Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ superconductors, and so forth, and are often accompanied by very interesting critical phenomena. New results presented here are based on Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling of a series of qqq-state Potts models on the simple cubic lattice with ferromagnetic interactions in one lattice direction and antiferromagnetic interactions in the other two directions. The staggered magnetization appears to display an emergent continuous O(nnn) symmetry with nnn=qqq-1, as illustrated by two-dimensional intersections of the distribution functions. Also the estimated critical exponents are consistent with the O(nnn=qqq-1) universality classes.