The effect of the lateral interactions on the critical behavior of long straight rigid rods on two-dimensional lattices

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to analyze how lateral interactions influence the critical behavior and phase transitions of long rigid rods on two-dimensional lattices, revealing a nematic phase and a continuous transition.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the critical phenomena of interacting rods on lattices, highlighting the role of lateral interactions in phase behavior.

Findings

Discovery of a nematic phase with parallel k-mers

Identification of a continuous transition at intermediate density

Linear increase of critical density with lateral interaction strength

Abstract

Using Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis, the critical behavior of attractive rigid rods of length k (k-mers) on square lattices at intermediate density has been studied. A nematic phase, characterized by a big domain of parallel k-mers, was found. This ordered phase is separated from the isotropic state by a continuous transition occurring at a intermediate density \theta_c, which increases linearly with the magnitude of the lateral interactions.