In the algebraic formulation of the Ising model, the partition function is expressed as the trace of a power VM of the transfer operator V, or equivalently, as the sum of Mth powers of the eigenvalues of V. In the derivations of Kaufman, Onsager, and more recently of Schultz, Mattis, and Lieb (SML), the transfer operator is first reduced to a more amenable form for computation and then, in principle at least, diagonalized. For the infinite lattice, only the largest eigenvalue of V is needed, and this is all Onsager and SML compute. Kaufman finds all the eigenvalues and is thus able to write down the partition function for the finite lattice. In the present work we give an alternative derivation of the SML form for V, and show how the Kaufman result can be obtained from this form without actual diagonalization. Instead of diagonalizing V, the evaluation of the trace is done directly after assigning a simple representation to V.
There is no an exact solution to three-dimensional (3D) finite-size Ising model (referred to as the Ising model hereafter for simplicity) and even two-dimensional (2D) Ising model with non-zero external field to our knowledge. Here by using an elementary but rigorous method, we obtain an exact solution to the partition function of the Ising model with
N lattice sites. It is a sum of
2N exponential functions and holds for
D-dimensional (
D=1,2,3,...) Ising model with or without the external field. This solution provides a new insight into the problem of the Ising model and the related difficulties, and new understanding of the classic exact solutions for one-dimensional (1D) (Kramers and Wannier, 1941) or 2D Ising model (Onsager, 1944). With this solution, the specific heat and magnetisation of a simple 3D Ising model are calculated, which are consistent with the results from experiments and/or numerical simulations. Furthermore, the solution here and the related approaches, can also be available to other models like the percolation and/or the Potts model.
There is no an accepted exact partition function (PF) for the two-dimensional (2D) Ising model with a non-zero external magnetic field to our knowledge. Here we infer an empirical PF for such an Ising model. We compare the PFs for two finite-size Ising lattices (
4×4 and
4×6) from this empirical PF with those from Wei (2018) (Wei, R.Q., 2018. An exact solution to the partition function of the finite-size Ising Model, arXiv: General Physics: 1805.01366.), and find that they are consistent very well. Based on this empirical PF, we further analyze and calculate the thermodynamic functions (heat capacity, magnetization, susceptibility) of this 2D Ising model and discuss the model's singularity semiquantitatively. Analysis and calculations from this PF show that they are coincident with those from other related studies; Especially the 2D Ising model in an external magnetic field has spontaneous magnetization (SM) calling the phenomenon at the critical temperature a phase transition, and the SM decreases with the increasing temperature. However, the decreasing variation of the SM here is different from that obtained by Yang (1952) from the 2D Ising model in a weak magnetic field.
The partition function
Z of a two-dimensional Ising lattice is evaluated by expressing it in the form $Z=\ensuremath{\Sigma}{i}^{}\ensuremath{\lambda}_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{\mathrm{nm}}$ where ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{i}$ are the eigenvalues of a
2n-dimensional matrix M,
n is the number of rows and
m the number of columns of the lattice. M is a generalization of the V-shaped matrix studied by Kramers and Wannier in connection with the same problem. It is shown that M can be expressed in terms of
2n-dimensional representations of
2n-dimensional orthogonal matrices. The eigenvalues of M are determined for
n large by making use of the known relations between the eigenvalues of a
2n-dimensional orthogonal matrix and the eigenvalues of its
2n-dimensional representative.The lattice considered differs only slightly from that treated by Onsager and Kaufman. In the lattice considered here, the boundary effects are eliminated by introducing an interaction between the last lattice point of each row and the first point of the next row. The matrix V considered by Onsager and Kaufman is, except for the boundary effects, equivalent to the matrix
Mn.
Z is shown to differ from the partition function calculated by Onsager and Kaufman only in order ${n}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$.