Minimal Models of Entropic Order
Statistical Mechanics
2026-03-05 v2 High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
Due to entropic effects, it is possible that generic high-energy states of a quantum or classical system are ordered. This leads to spontaneous symmetry breaking at arbitrarily high temperatures. We present minimal models of entropic order that arise from very simple interactions. Our main examples are the Arithmetic Ising Model (AIM) and its quantum analogue, where usual Ising spins are replaced by non-negative integers. Using a large-flavor expansion together with numerical simulations, we find that the high-temperature phase is ordered in the classical and quantum models. We also introduce classical gas models whose interactions drive the system to a crystal at high temperatures.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.07980,
title = {Minimal Models of Entropic Order},
author = {Xiaoyang Huang and Zohar Komargodski and Andrew Lucas and Fedor K. Popov and Tin Sulejmanpasic},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.07980},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
11 pages, 5 figures; v2 : minor corrections