Binary lattice-gases of particles with soft exclusion: Exact phase diagrams for tree-like lattices

We study equilibrium properties of binary lattice-gases comprising $A$ and $B$ particles, which undergo continuous exchanges with their respective reservoirs, maintained at chemical potentials $mu_A = mu_B = mu$. The particles interact via on-site hard-core exclusion and also between the nearest-neighbours: there are a soft repulsion for $AB$ pairs and interactions of arbitrary strength $J$, positive or negative, for $AA$ and $BB$ pairs. For tree-like Bethe and Husimi lattices, we determine the full phase diagram of such a ternary mixture of particles and voids. We show that for $J$ being above a lattice-dependent threshold value, the critical behaviour is similar: the system undergoes a transition at $mu = mu_c$ from a phase with equal mean densities of species into a phase with a spontaneously broken symmetry, in which the mean densities are no longer equal. Depending on the value of $J$, this transition can be either continuous or of the first order. For sufficiently big negative $J$, the behaviour on the two lattices becomes markedly different: while for the Bethe lattice there exists a continuous transition into a phase with an alternating order followed by a continuous re-entrant transition into a disordered phase, an alternating order phase is absent on the Husimi lattice due to strong frustration effects.

Equilibrium properties of two-species reactive lattice gases on random catalytic chains

We focus here on the thermodynamic properties of adsorbates formed by two-species $A+B to oslash$ reactions on a one-dimensional infinite lattice with heterogeneous catalytic properties. In our model hard-core $A$ and $B$ particles undergo continuous exchanges with their reservoirs and react when dissimilar species appear at neighboring lattice sites in presence of a catalyst. The latter is modeled by supposing either that randomly chosen bonds in the lattice promote reactions (Model I) or that reactions are activated by randomly chosen lattice sites (Model II). In the case of annealed disorder in spatial distribution of a catalyst we calculate the pressure of the adsorbate by solving three-site (Model I) or four-site (Model II) recursions obeyed by the corresponding averaged grand-canonical partition functions. In the case of quenched disorder, we use two complementary approaches to find $textit{exact}$ expressions for the pressure. The first approach is based on direct combinatorial arguments. In the second approach, we frame the model in terms of random matrices; the pressure is then represented as an averaged logarithm of the trace of a product of random $3 times 3$ matrices -- either uncorrelated (Model I) or sequentially correlated (Model II).

Possibility of a continuous phase transition in random-anisotropy magnets with ageneric random-axis distribution

We reconsider the problem of the critical behavior of a three-dimensional $O(m)$ symmetric magnetic system in the presence of random anisotropy disorder with a generic trimodal random axis distribution. By introducing $n$ replicas to average over disorder it can be coarse-grained to a $phi^{4}$-theory with $m times n$ component order parameter and five coupling constants taken in the limit of $n to 0$. Using a field theory approach we renormalize the model to two-loop order and calculate the $beta$-functions within the $varepsilon$ expansion and directly in three dimensions. We analyze the corresponding renormalization group flows with the help of the Pade-Borel resummation technique. We show that there is no stable fixed point accessible from physical initial conditions whose existence was argued in the previous studies. This may indicate an absence of a long-range ordered phase in the presence of random anisotropy disorder with a generic random axis distribution.

Superionic liquids in conducting nanoslits: A variety of phase transitions and ensuing charging behavior

We develop a theory of charge storage in ultra-narrow slit-like pores of nano-structured electrodes. Our analysis is based on the Blume-Capel model in external field, which we solve analytically on a Bethe lattice. The obtained solutions allow us to explore the complete phase diagram of confined ionic liquids in terms of the key parameters characterising the system, such as pore ionophilicity, interionic interaction energy and voltage. The phase diagram includes the lines of first and second-order, direct and re-entrant, phase transitions, which are manifested by singularities in the corresponding capacitance-voltage plots. To test our predictions experimentally requires mono-disperse, conducting, ultra-narrow slit pores, permitting only one layer of ions, and thick pore walls, preventing interionic interactions across the pore walls. However, some qualitative features, which distinguish the behavior of ionophilic and ionophobic pores, and its underlying physics, may emerge in future experimental studies of more complex electrode structures.

Cross-over between diffusion-limited and reaction-limited regimes in the coagulation-diffusion process

The change from the diffusion-limited to the reaction-limited cooperative behaviour in reaction-diffusion systems is analysed by comparing the universal long-time behaviour of the coagulation-diffusion process on a chain and on the Bethe lattice. On a chain, this model is exactly solvable through the empty-interval method. This method can be extended to the Bethe lattice, in the ben-Avraham-Glasser approximation. On the Bethe lattice, the analysis of the Laplace-transformed time-dependent particle-density is analogous to the study of the stationary state, if a stochastic reset to a configuration of uncorrelated particles is added. In this stationary state logarithmic corrections to scaling are found, as expected for systems at the upper critical dimension. Analogous results hold true for the time-integrated particle-density. The crossover scaling functions and the associated effective exponents between the chain and the Bethe lattice are derived.

Order-disorder transitions in lattice gases with annealed reactive constraints

We study equilibrium properties of catalytically-activated $A + A to oslash$ reactions taking place on a lattice of adsorption sites. The particles undergo continuous exchanges with a reservoir maintained at a constant chemical potential $mu$ and react when they appear at the neighbouring sites, provided that some reactive conditions are fulfilled. We model the latter in two different ways: In the Model I some fraction $p$ of the {em bonds} connecting neighbouring sites possesses special catalytic properties such that any two $A$s appearing on the sites connected by such a bond instantaneously react and desorb. In the Model II some fraction $p$ of the adsorption {em sites} possesses such properties and neighbouring particles react if at least one of them resides on a catalytic site. For the case of textit{annealed} disorder in the distribution of the catalyst, which is tantamount to the situation when the reaction may take place at any point on the lattice but happens with a finite probability $p$, we provide an exact solution for both models for the interior of an infinitely large Cayley tree - the so-called Bethe lattice. We show that both models exhibit a rich critical behaviour: For the annealed Model I it is characterised by a transition into an ordered state and a re-entrant transition into a disordered phase, which both are continuous. For the annealed Model II, which represents a rather exotic model of statistical mechanics in which interactions of any particle with its environment have a peculiar Boolean form, the transition to an ordered state is always continuous, while the re-entrant transition into the disordered phase may be either continuous or discontinuous, depending on the value of $p$.

Self-averaging in the random 2D Ising ferromagnet

We study sample-to-sample fluctuations in a critical two-dimensional Ising model with quenched random ferromagnetic couplings. Using replica calculations in the renormalization group framework we derive explicit expressions for the probability distribution function of the critical internal energy and for the specific heat fluctuations. It is shown that the disorder distribution of internal energies is Gaussian, and the typical sample-to-sample fluctuations as well as the average value scale with the system size $L$ like $sim L lnln(L)$. In contrast, the specific heat is shown to be self-averaging with a distribution function that tends to a $delta$-peak in the thermodynamic limit $L to infty$. While previously a lack of self-averaging was found for the free energy, we here obtain results for quantities that are directly measurable in simulations, and implications for measurements in the actual lattice system are discussed.

Phase behaviour and structure of a superionic liquid in nonpolarized nanoconfinement

The ion-ion interactions become exponentially screened for ions confined in ultranarrow metallic pores. To study the phase behaviour of an assembly of such ions, called a superionic liquid, we develop a statistical theory formulated on bipartite lattices, which allows an analytical solution within the Bethe-lattice approach. Our solution predicts the existence of ordered and disordered phases in which ions form a crystal-like structure and a homogeneous mixture, respectively. The transition between these two phases can potentially be first or second order, depending on the ion diameter, degree of confinement and pore ionophobicity. We supplement our analytical results by three-dimensional off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations of an ionic liquid in slit nanopores. The simulations predict formation of ionic clusters and ordered snake-like patterns, leading to characteristic close-standing peaks in the cation-cation and anion-anion radial distribution functions.

Critical behavior of the 2D Ising model with long-range correlated disorder

We study critical behavior of the diluted 2D Ising model in the presence of disorder correlations which decay algebraically with distance as $sim r^{-a}$. Mapping the problem onto 2D Dirac fermions with correlated disorder we calculate the critical properties using renormalization group up to two-loop order. We show that beside the Gaussian fixed point the flow equations have a non trivial fixed point which is stable for $0.995<a<2$ and is characterized by the correlation length exponent $ u= 2/a + O((2-a)^3)$. Using bosonization, we also calculate the averaged square of the spin-spin correlation function and find the corresponding critical exponent $eta_2=1/2-(2-a)/4+O((2-a)^2)$.

Monte-Carlo study of anisotropic scaling generated by disorder

We analyze the critical properties of the three-dimensional Ising model with linear parallel extended defects. Such a form of disorder produces two distinct correlation lengths, a parallel correlation length $xi_parallel$ in the direction along defects, and a perpendicular correlation length $xi_perp$ in the direction perpendicular to the lines. Both $xi_parallel$ and $xi_perp$ diverge algebraically in the vicinity of the critical point, but the corresponding critical exponents $ u_parallel$ and $ u_perp$ take different values. This property is specific for anisotropic scaling and the ratio $ u_parallel/ u_perp$ defines the anisotropy exponent $theta$. Estimates of quantitative characteristics of the critical behaviour for such systems were only obtained up to now within the renormalization group approach. We report a study of the anisotropic scaling in this system via Monte Carlo simulation of the three-dimensional system with Ising spins and non-magnetic impurities arranged into randomly distributed parallel lines. Several independent estimates for the anisotropy exponent $theta$ of the system are obtained, as well as an estimate of the susceptibility exponent $gamma$. Our results corroborate the renormalization group predictions obtained earlier.