Two-dimensional Potts model with invisible states on a square lattice.

Abstract

We study the two-dimensional (q+r)-state ferromagnetic Potts model with q interacting visible states and r noninteracting invisible states on a square lattice. We concentrate on the case q=2 for various r values. The density of states is obtained by the Wang-Landau Monte Carlo simulation method, by which the specific heat, the partition function zeros, and the probability distribution of the internal energy are calculated. There exists a second-order phase transition for r<r_{c}, while a first-order phase transition appears for r>r_{c}, where r_{c} is the critical value. From all analyses, we conclude that r_{c}≈29 for q=2. Calculating the density of visible spins using the Metropolis algorithm, we find that the first-order phase transition is due to the abrupt density change of the visible spins. The critical temperatures are measured to compare with a conjecture.