English

New ordered phases in a class of generalized XY models

Statistical Mechanics 2011-02-16 v2

Abstract

It is well known that the 2D XY model exhibits an unusual infinite order phase transition belonging to the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) universality class. Introduction of a nematic coupling into the XY Hamiltonian leads to an additional phase transition in the Ising universality class [D.H. Lee and G. Grinstein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 541 (1985)]. Using a combination of extensive Monte Carlo simulations and finite size scaling, we show that the higher order harmonics lead to a qualitatively different phase diagram, with additional ordered phases originating from the competition between the ferromagnetic and pseudonematic couplings. The new phase transitions belong to the 2D Potts, Ising, or KT universality classes.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1008.0868,
  title  = {New ordered phases in a class of generalized XY models},
  author = {Fabio Poderoso and Jeferson J. Arenzon and Yan Levin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1008.0868},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

4 pages, final published version (ref. added, better data and many small corrections)

R2 v1 2026-06-21T15:57:11.285Z