Random cluster model

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In statistical mechanics, probability theory, graph theory, etc. the random cluster model is a random graph that generalizes and unifies the Ising model, Potts model, and percolation model. It is used to study random combinatorial structures, electrical networks, etc. [1] [2] It is also referred to as the RC model or sometimes the FK representation after its founders Cees Fortuin and Piet Kasteleyn. [3]

Contents

Definition

Let be a graph, and be a bond configuration on the graph that maps each edge to a value of either 0 or 1. We say that a bond is closed on edge if , and open if . If we let be the set of open bonds, then an open cluster is any connected component in union the set of vertices. Note that an open cluster can be a single vertex (if that vertex is not incident to any open bonds).

Suppose an edge is open independently with probability and closed otherwise, then this is just the standard Bernoulli percolation process. The probability measure of a configuration is given as

The RC model is a generalization of percolation, where each cluster is weighted by a factor of . Given a configuration , we let be the number of open clusters, or alternatively the number of connected components formed by the open bonds. Then for any , the probability measure of a configuration is given as

Z is the partition function, or the sum over the unnormalized weights of all configurations,

The partition function of the RC model is a specialization of the Tutte polynomial, which itself is a specialization of the multivariate Tutte polynomial. [4]

Special values of q

The parameter of the random cluster model can take arbitrary complex values. This includes the following special cases:

Edwards-Sokal representation

The Edwards-Sokal (ES) representation [5] of the Potts model is named after Robert G. Edwards and Alan D. Sokal. It provides a unified representation of the Potts and random cluster models in terms of a joint distribution of spin and bond configurations.

Let be a graph, with the number of vertices being and the number of edges being . We denote a spin configuration as and a bond configuration as . The joint measure of is given as

where is the uniform measure, is the product measure with density , and is an appropriate normalizing constant. Importantly, the indicator function of the set

enforces the constraint that a bond can only be open on an edge if the adjacent spins are of the same state, also known as the SW rule.

The statistics of the Potts spins can be recovered from the cluster statistics (and vice versa), thanks to the following features of the ES representation: [2]

Frustration

There are several complications of the ES representation once frustration is present in the spin model (e.g. the Ising model with both ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic couplings in the same lattice). In particular, there is no longer a correspondence between the spin statistics and the cluster statistics, [7] and the correlation length of the RC model will be greater than the correlation length of the spin model. This is the reason behind the inefficiency of the SW algorithm for simulating frustrated systems.

Two-dimensional case

If the underlying graph is a planar graph, there is a duality between the random cluster models on and on the dual graph . [8] At the level of the partition function, the duality reads

On a self-dual graph such as the square lattice, a phase transition can only occur at the self-dual coupling . [9]

The random cluster model on a planar graph can be reformulated as a loop model on the corresponding medial graph. For a configuration of the random cluster model, the corresponding loop configuration is the set of self-avoiding loops that separate the clusters from the dual clusters. In the transfer matrix approach, the loop model is written in terms of a Temperley-Lieb algebra with the parameter .

History and applications

RC models were introduced in 1969 by Fortuin and Kasteleyn, mainly to solve combinatorial problems. [1] [10] [6] After their founders, it is sometimes referred to as FK models. [3] In 1971 they used it to obtain the FKG inequality. Post 1987, interest in the model and applications in statistical physics reignited. It became the inspiration for the Swendsen–Wang algorithm describing the time-evolution of Potts models. [11] Michael Aizenman and coauthors used it to study the phase boundaries in 1D Ising and Potts models. [12] [10]

See also

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References

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