Physics World
Ising simulations bear three-dimensional fruit
Dietrich Stauffer
Abstract
One of the most illuminating ways of modelling phase transitions is to define a set of points on a lattice, specify a spin at each point and a set of rules for their mutual interactions, and use its behaviour to predict fundamental quantities such as the critical point. Hitherto these models have suffered severe limitations in three dimensions, but now several groups have shown that computer simulations are succeeding where other calculations were less accurate.