Hard squares with diagonal attractions

Abstract

The authors complete the solution of the square lattice gas with nearest neighbour exclusion and attractive next-nearest neighbour (diagonal) interactions on the special surface corresponding to regimes III and IV of the generalised hard hexagon model. The interfacial tension, correlation length and sublattice density difference are calculated throughout these regimes by obtaining the eigenvalues of the row-to-row and corner transfer matrices. The associated critical exponents are found to be mu =v=5/4, beta =3/32 in regime III and mu '=v'=5/2, beta '=1/4 in regime IV. In particular, their results confirm the recent proposal by Huse that regime III is the first-order coexistence surface (separating the disordered fluid phase from the square ordered solid phases) and that the regime III/regime IV boundary is a line of tricritical points.