Modulated phases and devil's staircases in a layered mean-field version of the ANNNI model

DOI10.1016/J.PHYSA.2014.04.045zbMATH Open1395.82055arXiv1310.5691OpenAlexW2171376578MaRDI QIDQ1782940FDOQ1782940

Authors: E. S. Nascimento, J. P. de Lima, S. R. Salinas 

Publication date: 20 September 2018

Published in: Physica A (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We investigate the phase diagram of a spin-$1/2$ Ising model on a cubic lattice, with competing interactions between nearest and next-nearest neighbors along an axial direction, and fully connected spins on the sites of each perpendicular layer. The problem is formulated in terms of a set of noninteracting Ising chains in a position-dependent field. At low temperatures, as in the standard mean-feild version of the Axial-Next-Nearest-Neighbor Ising (ANNNI) model, there are many distinct spatially commensurate phases that spring from a multiphase point of infinitely degenerate ground states. As temperature increases, we confirm the existence of a branching mechanism associated with the onset of higher-order commensurate phases. We check that the ferromagnetic phase undergoes a first-order transition to the modulated phases. Depending on a parameter of competition, the wave number of the striped patterns locks in rational values, giving rise to a devil's staircase. We numerically calculate the Hausdorff dimension $D_0$ associated with these fractal structures, and show that $D_0$ increases with temperature but seems to reach a limiting value smaller than $D_0=1$.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1310.5691

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zbMATH Keywords

Lifshitz pointdevil's staircaseANNNI modelmodulated phases

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Lattice systems (Ising, dimer, Potts, etc.) and systems on graphs arising in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B20)

Cited In (5)

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• Floating phase in a 2D ANNNI model
• Dynamical phase transitions in the two-dimensional ANNNI model.
• Modulated structures in a Lebwohl-Lasher model with chiral interactions
• Multiphase region of helimagnetic superlattices at low temperature in an extended six-state clock model

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