Solution of eight‐vertex model excites critical‐point theorists
SEP 01, 1971
DOI: 10.1063/1.3022922
A difficult problem in two‐dimensional statistical mechanics has been solved by R. J. Baxter of the Australian National University in Canberra (Phys. Rev. Lett. 26, 832, 1971). The so‐called “eight‐vertex” model that he solved contains as special cases the square lattice Ising, dimer, ice, F and KDP (potassium dihydrogen phosphate) models. Baxter’s elegant and beautiful solution has challenged one of the widely held precepts of critical‐point theory, namely that the character of the critical behavior is independent of the substance provided the symmetry properties of the Hamiltonian are the same.
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© 1971 American Institute of Physics
