Two-dimensional Potts antiferromagnets with a phase transition at arbitrarily large q.

We exhibit infinite families of two-dimensional lattices (some of which are triangulations or quadrangulations of the plane) on which the q-state Potts antiferromagnet has a finite-temperature phase transition at arbitrarily large values of q. This unexpected result is proven rigorously by using a Peierls argument to measure the entropic advantage of sublattice long-range order. Additional numerical data are obtained using transfer matrices, Monte Carlo simulation, and a high-precision graph-theoretic method.

Phase transition in the three-state Potts antiferromagnet on the diced lattice.

We prove that the 3-state Potts antiferromagnet on the diced lattice (dual of the kagome lattice) has entropically driven long-range order at low temperatures (including zero). We then present Monte Carlo simulations, using a cluster algorithm, of the 3-state and 4-state models. The 3-state model has a phase transition to the high-temperature disordered phase at v=e;{J}-1=-0.860 599+/-0.000 004 that appears to be in the universality class of the 3-state Potts ferromagnet. The 4-state model is disordered throughout the physical region, including at zero temperature.