Surface criticality of antiferromagnetic Potts model

TL;DR

This study investigates the surface critical behaviors of the three-state antiferromagnetic Potts model on a cubic lattice, revealing complex phase transitions and emergent symmetries, with detailed critical exponents for various surface phases.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of surface critical phenomena and phase transitions in the antiferromagnetic Potts model, including emergent symmetries and new transition points.

Findings

Surface exhibits XY-like phase diagram due to emergent O(2) symmetry.

Critical exponents for ordinary and special transitions are determined.

Identification of an extraordinary-log phase with logarithmic decay of correlations.

Abstract

We study the three-state antiferromagnetic Potts model on the simple-cubic lattice, paying attention to the surface critical behaviors. When the nearest neighboring interactions of the surface is tuned, we obtain a phase diagram similar to the XY model, owing to the emergent O(2) symmetry of the bulk critical point. For the ordinary transition, we get $y_{h1}=0.780(3)$, $\eta_\parallel=1.44(1)$, and $\eta_\perp=0.736(6)$; for the special transition, we get $y_s=0.59(1)$, $y_{h1}=1.693(2)$, $\eta_\parallel=-0.391(4)$, and $\eta_\perp=-0.179(5)$; in the extraordinary-log phase, the surface correlation function $C_\parallel(r)$ decays logarithmically, with decaying exponent $q=0.60(2)$, however, the correlation $C_\perp(r)$ still decays algebraically, with critical exponent $\eta_\perp=-0.442(5)$. If the ferromagnetic next nearest neighboring surface interactions are added, we find two transition points, the first one is a special point between the ordinary phase and the extraordinary-log phase, the second one is a transition between the extraordinary-log phase and the $Z_6$ symmetry-breaking phase, with critical exponent $y_{\rm s}=0.41(2)$. The scaling behaviors of the second transition is very interesting, the surface spin correlation function $C_\parallel(r)$ and the surface squared staggered magnetization at this point decays logarithmically, with exponent $q=0.37(1)$; however, the surface structure factor with the smallest wave vector and the correlation function $C_\perp(r)$ satisfy power-law decaying, with critical exponents $\eta_\parallel=-0.69(1)$ and $\eta_\perp=-0.37(1)$, respectively.