Phase transition of generalized ferromagnetic Potts model - Effect of invisible states

Abstract

We investigate the nature of the phase transition of the ferromagnetic Potts model with invisible states. The ferromagnetic Potts model with invisible states can be regarded as a straightforward extension of the standard ferromagnetic Potts model. The invisible states contribute the entropy, however they do not affect the internal energy. They also do not change the symmetry which breaks at the transition temperature. The invisible states stimulate a first-order phase transition. We confirm that the first-order phase transition with spontaneous q-fold symmetry breaking for q = 2,3, and 4 takes place even on two-dimensional lattice by Monte Carlo simulation. We also find that the transition temperature decreases and the latent heat increases as the number of invisible states increases.