An electric-field representation of the harmonic XY model.

The two-dimensional harmonic XY (HXY) model is a spin model in which the classical spins interact via a piecewise parabolic potential. We argue that the HXY model should be regarded as the canonical classical lattice spin model of phase fluctuations in two-dimensional condensates, as it is the simplest model that guarantees the modular symmetry of the experimental systems. Here we formulate a lattice electric-field representation of the HXY model and contrast this with an analogous representation of the Villain model and the two-dimensional Coulomb gas with a purely rotational auxiliary field. We find that the HXY model is a spin-model analogue of a lattice electric-field model of the Coulomb gas with an auxiliary field, but with a temperature-dependent vacuum (electric) permittivity that encodes the coupling of the spin vortices to their background spin-wave medium. The spin vortices map to the Coulomb charges, while the spin-wave fluctuations correspond to auxiliary-field fluctuations. The coupling explains the striking differences in the high-temperature asymptotes of the specific heats of the HXY model and the Coulomb gas with an auxiliary field. Our results elucidate the propagation of effective long-range interactions throughout the HXY model (whose interactions are purely local) by the lattice electric fields. They also imply that global spin-twist excitations (topological-sector fluctuations) generated by local spin dynamics are ergodically excluded in the low-temperature phase. We discuss the relevance of these results to condensate physics.

Direct calculation of the critical Casimir force in a binary fluid.

We show that critical Casimir effects can be accessed through direct simulation of a model binary fluid passing through the demixing transition. We work in the semi-grand-canonical ensemble, in slab geometry, in which the Casimir force appears as the excess of the generalized pressure, P_{⊥}-nµ. The excesses of the perpendicular pressure, P_{⊥}, and of nµ, are individually of much larger amplitude. A critical pressure anisotropy is observed between forces parallel and perpendicular to the confinement direction, which collapses onto a universal scaling function closely related to that of the critical Casimir force.

Finite-size scaling of the magnetization probability density for the critical Ising model in slab geometry.

The magnetization probability density in d = 2 and 3 dimensional Ising models in slab geometry of volume [Formula: see text] is computed through Monte-Carlo simulation at the critical temperature and zero magnetic field. The finite-size scaling of this distribution and its dependence on the system aspect-ratio [Formula: see text]and boundary conditions are discussed. In the limiting case [Formula: see text] of a macroscopically large slab ([Formula: see text]) the distribution is found to scale as a Gaussian function for all tested system sizes and boundary conditions.

Classical topological order in kagome ice.

We examine the onset of classical topological order in a nearest neighbour kagome ice model. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we characterize the topological sectors of the ground state using a nonlocal cut measure which circumscribes the toroidal geometry of the simulation cell. We demonstrate that simulations which employ global loop updates that are allowed to wind around the periodic boundaries cause the topological sector to fluctuate, while restricted local loop updates freeze the simulation into one topological sector. The freezing into one topological sector can also be observed in the susceptibility of the real magnetic spin vectors projected onto the kagome plane. The ability of the susceptibility to distinguish between fluctuating and non-fluctuating topological sectors should motivate its use as a local probe of topological order in a variety of related systems.

Criterion for universality-class-independent critical fluctuations: example of the two-dimensional Ising model.

Order parameter fluctuations for the two-dimensional Ising model in the region of the critical temperature are presented. A locus of temperatures T(*) (L) and a locus of magnetic fields B(*) (L) are identified, for which the probability density function is similar to that for the two-dimensional XY model in the spin wave approximation. The characteristics of the fluctuations along these points are largely independent of universality class. We show that the largest range of fluctuations relative to the variance of the distribution occurs along these loci of points, rather than at the critical temperature itself and we discuss this observation in terms of intermittency. Our motivation is the identification of a generic form for fluctuations in correlated systems in accordance with recent experimental and numerical observations. We conclude that a universality-class-dependent form for the fluctuations is a particularity of critical phenomena related to the change in symmetry at a phase transition.