Critical manifold of the kagome-lattice Potts model

Any two-dimensional infinite regular lattice G can be produced by tiling the plane with a finite subgraph B of G; we call B a basis of G. We introduce a two-parameter graph polynomial P_B(q,v) that depends on B and its embedding in G. The algebraic curve P_B(q,v) = 0 is shown to provide an approximation to the critical manifold of the q-state Potts model, with coupling v = exp(K)-1, defined on G. This curve predicts the phase diagram both in the ferromagnetic (v>0) and antiferromagnetic (v<0) regions. For larger bases B the approximations become increasingly accurate, and we conjecture that P_B(q,v) = 0 provides the exact critical manifold in the limit of infinite B. Furthermore, for some lattices G, or for the Ising model (q=2) on any G, P_B(q,v) factorises for any choice of B: the zero set of the recurrent factor then provides the exact critical manifold. In this sense, the computation of P_B(q,v) can be used to detect exact solvability of the Potts model on G. We illustrate the method for the square lattice, where the Potts model has been exactly solved, and the kagome lattice, where it has not. For the square lattice we correctly reproduce the known phase diagram, including the antiferromagnetic transition and the singularities in the Berker-Kadanoff phase. For the kagome lattice, taking the smallest basis with six edges we recover a well-known (but now refuted) conjecture of F.Y. Wu. Larger bases provide successive improvements on this formula, giving a natural extension of Wu's approach. The polynomial predictions are in excellent agreement with numerical computations. For v>0 the accuracy of the predicted critical coupling v_c is of the order 10^{-4} or 10^{-5} for the 6-edge basis, and improves to 10^{-6} or 10^{-7} for the largest basis studied (with 36 edges).Comment: 31 pages, 12 figure

Exact bond percolation thresholds in two dimensions

Recent work in percolation has led to exact solutions for the site and bond critical thresholds of many new lattices. Here we show how these results can be extended to other classes of graphs, significantly increasing the number and variety of solved problems. Any graph that can be decomposed into a certain arrangement of triangles, which we call self-dual, gives a class of lattices whose percolation thresholds can be found exactly by a recently introduced triangle-triangle transformation. We use this method to generalize Wierman's solution of the bow-tie lattice to yield several new solutions. We also give another example of a self-dual arrangement of triangles that leads to a further class of solvable problems. There are certainly many more such classes.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys

Polynomial sequences for bond percolation critical thresholds

In this paper, I compute the inhomogeneous (multi-probability) bond critical surfaces for the (4,6,12) and (3^4,6) lattices using the linearity approximation described in (Scullard and Ziff, J. Stat. Mech. P03021), implemented as a branching process of lattices. I find the estimates for the bond percolation thresholds, p_c(4,6,12)=0.69377849... and p_c(3^4,6)=0.43437077..., compared with Parviainen's numerical results of p_c \approx 0.69373383 and p_c \approx 0.43430621 . These deviations are of the order 10^{-5}, as is standard for this method, although they are outside Parviainen's typical standard error of 10^{-7}. Deriving thresholds in this way for a given lattice leads to a polynomial with integer coefficients, the root in [0,1] of which gives the estimate for the bond threshold. I show how the method can be refined, leading to a sequence of higher order polynomials making predictions that likely converge to the exact answer. Finally, I discuss how this fact hints that for certain graphs, such as the kagome lattice, the exact bond threshold may not be the root of any polynomial with integer coefficients.Comment: submitted to Journal of Statistical Mechanic

Predictions of bond percolation thresholds for the kagom\'e and Archimedean (3,122)(3,12^2) lattices

Here we show how the recent exact determination of the bond percolation threshold for the martini lattice can be used to provide approximations to the unsolved kagom\'e and (3,12^2) lattices. We present two different methods, one of which provides an approximation to the inhomogeneous kagom\'e and (3,12^2) bond problems, and the other gives estimates of $p_c$ for the homogeneous kagom\'e (0.5244088...) and (3,12^2) (0.7404212...) problems that respectively agree with numerical results to five and six significant figures.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Critical surfaces for general inhomogeneous bond percolation problems

We present a method of general applicability for finding exact or accurate approximations to bond percolation thresholds for a wide class of lattices. To every lattice we sytematically associate a polynomial, the root of which in $[0,1]$ is the conjectured critical point. The method makes the correct prediction for every exactly solved problem, and comparison with numerical results shows that it is very close, but not exact, for many others. We focus primarily on the Archimedean lattices, in which all vertices are equivalent, but this restriction is not crucial. Some results we find are kagome: $p_c=0.524430...$, $(3,12^2): p_c=0.740423...$, $(3^3,4^2): p_c=0.419615...$, $(3,4,6,4):p_c=0.524821...$, $(4,8^2):p_c=0.676835...$, $(3^2,4,3,4)$: $p_c=0.414120...$ . The results are generally within $10^{-5}$ of numerical estimates. For the inhomogeneous checkerboard and bowtie lattices, errors in the formulas (if they are not exact) are less than $10^{-6}$.Comment: Submitted to J. Stat. Mec

Exact Site Percolation Thresholds Using the Site-to-Bond and Star-Triangle Transformations

I construct a two-dimensional lattice on which the inhomogeneous site percolation threshold is exactly calculable and use this result to find two more lattices on which the site thresholds can be determined. The primary lattice studied here, the ``martini lattice'', is a hexagonal lattice with every second site transformed into a triangle. The site threshold of this lattice is found to be $0.764826...$, while the others have $0.618034...$ and $1/\sqrt{2}$. This last solution suggests a possible approach to establishing the bound for the hexagonal site threshold, $p_c<1/\sqrt{2}$. To derive these results, I solve a correlated bond problem on the hexagonal lattice by use of the star-triangle transformation and then, by a particular choice of correlations, solve the site problem on the martini lattice.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Physical Review

The critical manifolds of inhomogeneous bond percolation on bow-tie and checkerboard lattices

We give a conditional derivation of the inhomogeneous critical percolation manifold of the bow-tie lattice with five different probabilities, a problem that does not appear at first to fall into any known solvable class. Although our argument is mathematically rigorous only on a region of the manifold, we conjecture that the formula is correct over its entire domain, and we provide a non-rigorous argument for this that employs the negative probability regime of the triangular lattice critical surface. We discuss how the rigorous portion of our result substantially broadens the range of lattices in the solvable class to include certain inhomogeneous and asymmetric bow-tie lattices, and that, if it could be put on a firm foundation, the negative probability portion of our method would extend this class to many further systems, including F Y Wu’s checkerboard formula for the square lattice. We conclude by showing that this latter problem can in fact be proved using a recent result of Grimmett and Manolescu for isoradial graphs, lending strong evidence in favor of our other conjectured results. This article is part of ‘Lattice models and integrability’, a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical in honour of F Y Wu's 80th birthday.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98528/1/1751-8121_45_49_494005.pd

Testing refinements by refining tests

One of the potential benefits of formal methods is that they offer the possibility of reducing the costs of testing. A specification acts as both the benchmark against which any implementation is tested, and also as the means by which tests are generated. There has therefore been interest in developing test generation techniques from formal specifications, and a number of different methods have been derived for state based languages such as Z, B and VDM. However, in addition to deriving tests from a formal specification, we might wish to refine the specification further before its implementation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between testing and refinement. As our model for test generation we use a DNF partition analysis for operations written in Z, which produces a number of disjoint test cases for each operation. In this paper we discuss how the partition analysis of an operation alters upon refinement, and we develop techniques that allow us to refine abstract tests in order to generate test cases for a refinement. To do so we use (and extend existing) methods for calculating the weakest data refinement of a specification

Classical phase transitions in a one-dimensional short-range spin model

Ising's solution of a classical spin model famously demonstrated the absence of a positive-temperature phase transition in one-dimensional equilibrium systems with short-range interactions. No-go arguments established that the energy cost to insert domain walls in such systems is outweighed by entropy excess so that symmetry cannot be spontaneously broken. An archetypal way around the no-go theorems is to augment interaction energy by increasing the range of interaction. Here we introduce new ways around the no-go theorems by investigating entropy depletion instead. We implement this for the Potts model with invisible states.Because spins in such a state do not interact with their surroundings, they contribute to the entropy but not the interaction energy of the system. Reducing the number of invisible states to a negative value decreases the entropy by an amount sufficient to induce a positive-temperature classical phase transition. This approach is complementary to the long-range interaction mechanism. Alternatively, subjecting positive numbers of invisible states to imaginary or complex fields can trigger such a phase transition. We also discuss potential physical realisability of such systems.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figure