Zero temperature phase transitions and their anomalous influence on thermodynamic behavior in the q-state Potts model on a diamond chain

TL;DR

This paper investigates the zero-temperature phase transitions in the q-state Potts model on a diamond chain, revealing unique thermodynamic behaviors and residual entropy effects without true finite-temperature phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides an analytical study of the Potts model on a diamond chain, highlighting the absence of finite-temperature phase transitions and the presence of anomalous thermodynamic features near zero temperature.

Findings

Sharp entropy changes at zero temperature

Residual entropy indicating frustrated regions

Peaks in derivatives of free energy suggestive of phase transition behavior

Abstract

The q-state Potts model on a diamond chain has mathematical significance in analyzing phase transitions and critical behaviors in diverse fields, including statistical physics, condensed matter physics, and materials science. By focusing on the 3-state Potts model on a diamond chain, we reveal rich and analytically solvable behaviors without phase transitions at finite temperatures. Upon investigating thermodynamic properties such as internal energy, entropy, specific heat, and correlation length, we observe sharp changes near zero temperature. Magnetic properties, including magnetization and magnetic susceptibility, display distinct behaviors that provide insights into spin configurations in different phases. However, the Potts model lacks genuine phase transitions at finite temperatures, in line with the Peierls argument for one-dimensional systems. Nonetheless, in the general case of an arbitrary $q$-state, magnetic properties such as correlation length, magnetization, and magnetic susceptibility exhibit intriguing remnants of a zero-temperature phase transition at finite temperatures. Furthermore, residual entropy uncovers unusual frustrated regions at zero-temperature phase transitions. This feature leads to the peculiar thermodynamic properties of phase boundaries, including a sharp entropy change resembling a first-order discontinuity without an entropy jump, and pronounced peaks in second-order derivatives of free energy, suggestive of a second-order phase transition divergence, but without singularities. This unusual behavior is also observed in the correlation length at the pseudo-critical temperature, which could potentially be misleading as a divergence.