What do Monte Carlo simulations tell us about compressible ising models?

Abstract

Monte Carlo simulations have begun to illuminate the nature of phase transitions and universality classes for compressible Ising models. A comprehensive analysis of a Landau-Ginsburg Wilson hamiltonian for systems with elastic degrees of freedom predicts that there should be four cases with different behavior, depending upon symmetries and thermodynamic constraints. We shall describe the results of careful Monte Carlo simulations for a simple compressible Ising model that can be easily modified to correspond to each of the four cases.