Critical properties of a simple cubic fully frustrated Ising lattice by Monte Carlo method

Abstract

Using the Monte Carlo technique, the authors study a simple cubic fully frustrated Ising crystal. They find a sharp second-order phase transition, contrary to what is predicted by mean-field theories. By finite-size scaling, the authors find k_BT_c/J=1.355 for an infinite lattice. Various physical properties are studied in detail. The behaviour of the system at low temperatures is particularly interesting: due to excitations of linear chains, some sublattices become disordered far below T_c. This results in the appearance of a shoulder of the specific heat below the transition peak. They derive the critical exponents alpha and nu above T_c from the specific heat and spatial correlation functions. These results suggests a crossover to another class at higher temperatures. The critical exponent delta is also given.