COMPUTER SIMULATION STUDY OF A DISORDERED ONE-DIMENSIONAL NEMATOGENIC LATTICE MODEL WITH LONG-RANGE INTERACTIONS ISOTROPIC IN SPIN SPACE

Abstract

We have considered a classical spin system, consisting of 3-component unit vectors, associated with a one-dimensional lattice {uk, k ∈ Z}, and interacting via translationally invariant pair potentials, isotropic in spin space, and of the long-range form [Formula: see text] where ∊ is a positive constant setting energy and temperature scales (i.e. T* = kBT/∊). Extending previous rigorous results, one can prove the existence of an ordering transition at finite temperature when 0 < σ < 1, and its absence when σ ≥ 1. We have studied the border case σ = 1, by means of computer simulation. Similarly to the magnetic counterparts of the present model, we found evidence suggesting a transition to a low-temperature phase with slow decay of correlations and infinite susceptibility, i.e. a Berezhinskiǐ–Kosterlitz–Thouless-like transition; the transition temperature was estimated to be Θ = 0.475 ± 0.005.