Phase transition in the two-dimensional q-state Potts model with random ferromagnetic couplings is studied in the large-q limit by a combinatorial optimization algorithm and by approximate mappings. We conjecture that the critical behavior of the model is controlled by the isotropic version of the infinite randomness fixed point of the random transverse-field Ising spin chain and the critical exponents are exactly given by beta=(3-sqrt[5])/4, beta(s)=1/2, and nu=1. The specific heat has a logarithmic singularity, but at the transition point there are very strong sample-to-sample fluctuations. Discretized randomness results in discontinuities in the internal energy.
We consider the random transverse-field Ising model in
d=3 dimensions with long-range ferromagnetic interactions which decay as a power $\ensuremath{\alpha}>d$ with the distance. Using a variant of the strong-disorder renormalization group method we study numerically the phase-transition point from the paramagnetic side. We find that the fixed point controlling the transition is of the strong-disorder type, and based on experience with other similar systems, we expect the results to be qualitatively correct, but probably not asymptotically exact. The distribution of the (sample dependent) pseudocritical points is found to scale with
1/lnL,L being the linear size of the sample. Similarly, the critical magnetization scales with ${(lnL)}^{\ensuremath{\chi}}/{L}^{d}$ and the excitation energy behaves as ${L}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\alpha}}$. Using extreme-value statistics we argue that extrapolating from the ferromagnetic side the magnetization approaches a finite limiting value and thus the transition is of mixed order.
Phase transition in
d=3 ferromagnetic Ising models with random fields is analyzed directly at the zero-temperature critical point. Critical behavior is extracted from correlation functions averaged over an ensemble of exact ground states obtained with a new integer optimization algorithm. For Gaussian distribution of random fields finite-size scaling demonstrates a continuous phase transition with effective disconnected susceptibility exponent $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\eta}}\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}0.9$, correlation-length exponent $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\approx}1.0$, and magnetization exponent $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\approx}0.05$.