On the type of the temperature phase transition in phi-4 model

TL;DR

This study uses large-scale Monte Carlo simulations on a lattice to analyze the nature of temperature-induced phase transitions in the  model, revealing a transition from weak first-order to second order as the coupling increases.

Contribution

It determines the Linde-Weinberg low bound on the coupling constant and characterizes the transition type across a wide coupling range using GPU-accelerated simulations.

Findings

Weak first-order transition near the Linde-Weinberg bound

Transition becomes second order at higher coupling values

Comparison with continuum theory and previous lattice results

Abstract

The temperature induced phase transition is investigated in the one-component scalar field \phi^4 model on a lattice by using Monte Carlo simulations. Using the GPGPU technology a huge amount of data is collected that gives a possibility to determine the Linde-Weinberg low bound on the coupling constant \lambda_0 and investigate the type of the phase transition for a wide interval of coupling values. It is found that for the values of \lambda close to this bound a weak-first-order phase transition happens. It converts into a second order phase transition with the increase of \lambda. A comparison with analytic calculations in continuum field theory and lattice simulations obtained by other authors is given.