LETTERE AL I~UOVO CIMENTO VOL. 33, N.

2 9 Gennaio 1982

Z2 G a u g e M o d e l o n the Truncated-Tetrahedron Lattice.

E. CAMPESINO-ROMEO, J. C. D'OLIvO and M. SOCOLOVSKY

Centre de lnvestigaci(m y de Estudios Avanzados, A P 14-740, Mdxico 14, D..F., MJxico

(ricevuto 1'8 0 t t o b r e 1981)

In recent years several authors have studied spin models placed on lattices of non-
integer effective dimension (1,s). T h e main purpose in those reports was to improve
the understanding of how dimensionality influences the nature of phase transitions.
A common characteristic of the models studied was the global (discrete or continuous)
s y m m e t r y of the Hamiltonian.
On the other hand, spin models with an exact local symmetry (4) have recently
been the object of intensive research mainly because they serve as toy models for the
closely related but much more complicated lattice (cut-off) versions of gauge fie]d
theories (s).
Th e purpose of the present article is to initiate the study of locally symmetric
Hamiltonians placed on lattices of nonintcger dimensions. In this note we shall restrict
ourselves to the pure Z 2 gauge model (4) placed on the truncated-tetrahcdron lattice
of Nelson and Fisher (1). I n this case the model can be solved exactly and shown to
be equivalent (in the thermodynamic limit) to the Ising model in one dimension. This
equivalence is another illustration of the deep relationship between gauge systems
and spin systems, many other examples of which exist already in the literature (6).
The novelty here is t h a t the gauge system is placed on a lattice with effective dimen-
sion between one and two. The modal including m a t t e r fields is presently under study
and will be published elsewhere.
We shall begin with the definition of the lattice and a description of its features
which are relevant to our work.
The lattice is defined recursively. The zero order is the complete graph of four
points (tetrahedron). T h e (r -[- 1)-th-order lattice (r = 0, 1, 2 .... ) is obtained from the
r - t h - o r d e r lattice by replacing each v e r t e x of the latter by the complete graph of three
points (triangle). Each of the new vertices is connected w i t h one of the lines coming
to the original vertex. :Let us call, for the r - t h - o r d e r lattice, V, L and ~.~ the n u m b e r
of vertices (sites) bonds (links), and figures (plaquettes) of 3 • ~ sides, respectively

(~) D. R. I~'EI~ON a n d M. E. F~SHER: A n n . P h y s . (N. ]r.), 91, 226 (1975).

(l) D. DHAI~: J. Math. Phys. (N. Y.), 18, 577 (1977).
(a) Y. GEFEN, lB. ]3. ~t~ANDELBROT a n d A. AHARONY: Phys. Rev. Lett., 45, 855 (1980).
(4) F. WF.GNER: J. Math. Phys. (N. Y.), 12, 2259 (1971).
(J) F o r a review, see e . g . J . B . K o o t ~ r : Rev. Mod. Phys., 51, 659 (1979).

52
Z 2 GAUG~ MOD~L ON T H E TRUNCATED-T~TRAHEDRON LATTICE ~3

Then

(1) V : 4• r ,

(2) L = 6• r,

4)<3 v-(i§ , i : 0, 1 ..... r--1,

(3) v~ = 4, i=r,

O, i>r.

F r o m eq. (3) it follows t h a t t h e t o t a l n u m b e r of p l a q u e t t e s P is e q u a l t o 2(3 r 5- 1).

T h e t h e r m o d y n a m i c l i m i t is o b t a i n e d b y l e t t i n g r - - ~ oo. A v i e w of t h e r = 2 i t e r a -
t i o n is s h o ~ i n fig. 1.

F i g . 1. - r = 2 " * i t e r a t i o n of t h e truncated tetrahcdron lattice.

T h e effective d i m e n s i o n d of t h e l a t t i c e is d e f i n e d i n t h e f o l l o w i n g w a y . C o n s i d e r
a t r i a n g l e a n d all t h e successive i t e r a t i o n s o b t a i n e d b y r e p l a c i n g v e r t i c e s b y t r i a n g l e s
(see fig. 2). I f we d e n o t e b y I. t h e n u m b e r of l i n k s a l o n g a side of t h e i n i t i a l t r i a n g l e
(n = 1) a n d b y v . t h e t o t a l n u m b e r s of l i n k s i n t h e n - t h i t e r a t i o n , we define d t h r o u g h

(4) v= = c o n s t (In) a , n --~ oo .

Since l ~ = 2 " - 1 and v,,=3(3"--1)/2 we find d = l o g ~ 3 ~ 1.58, i n a g r e e m e n t w i t h

Nelson and Fisher.
S e v e r a l c o m m e n t s are in o r d e r . F i r s t , n o t e t h a t d is d e f i n e d o n l y i n t h e t h e r m o -
d y n a m i c l i m i t . Second, w h e n a n a n a l o g o u s d e f i n i t i o n is ~ p p l i e d t o a n o r d i n a r y l a t t i c e ,
t h e effective d i m e n s i o n c o i n c i d e s w i t h t h e i n t e g e r d i m e n s i o n of t h e l a t t i c e . T h i r d , t h e
d e f i n i t i o n of d c a n b e e s t a b l i s h e d i n t e r m s of t h e n u m b e r of sites or p l a q u e t t e s , a n d
~ E. CAi~IPESINO-ROMEO~ J. C. D ' O L t V O a n d M. SOCOLOVSKY

r~=l n~2 n=3

Fig. 2. - F i r s t i t e r a t i o n s for a t r i a n g l e .

t h e r e s u l t is u n c h a n g e d . F o u r t h t h e t o p o l o g i c a l d i m e n s i o n (*) of t h e t r u n c a t e d t e t r a -
h c d r o n is one, since a n y p o r t i o n of i t c o n t a i n i n g a n a r b i t r a r y l a r g e n u m b e r of sites,
l i n k s a n d p l a q u e t t e s can b e i s o l a t e d f r o m t h e r e s t of t h e l a t t i c e b y s i m p l y c u t t i n g a
finite n u m b e r of links, n a m e l y t h r e e . F i n a l l y we w a n t t o m e n t i o n t h a t , f r o m a d y n a m -
ical p o i n t of view, DHAR (s) f o u n d t h a t for t h e t r u n c a t e d t e t r a h e d r o n d ~ 2 log s 3
1.36, w h i c h is d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e r e s u l t o b t a i n e d a b o v e o n p u r e g e o m e t r i c g r o u n d s .
H o w e v e r , t h e e s s e n t i a l p o i n t , n a m e l y , t h e f a c t t h a t d is n o t a n i n t e g e r , h o l d s for b o t h
definitions.
T h e d y n a m i c a l v a r i a b l e s of t h e m o d e l are I s i n g s p i n s a = - { - 1 p l a c e d o n links.
T h e s y m m e t r y g r o u p , Z,, a c t s o n s i t e s a n d flips s i m u l t a n e o u s l y all t h e s p i n s l y i n g on
t h e l i n k s c o n v e r g i n g to t h e site w h e r e t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n is a p p l i e d . F o r a n a r b i t r a r y
p l a q u e t t e of 3 >(2 ~ s i d e s ( t y p e - / p l a q u c t t e ) we define t h e g a u g e - i n v a r i a n t q u a n t i t y
a ... a as t h e p r o d u c t of t h e 3 x 2 ~ d y n a m i c a l v a r i a b l e s on t h e s e sides. T h e n , a locally
i n v a r i a n t H a m i l t o n i a n c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e r - t h - o r d e r l a t t i c e is

(5) n(r) = - - y J ,Z Er.,. ~,

w h e r e ~] d e n o t e s t h e s u m o v e r all t y p e - / p l a q u e t t e s a n d J~ is a set of a r b i t r a r y posi-

i
tivo coupling constants.
T h e p a r t i t i o n f u n c t i o n is g i v e n b y

(6) Z(r) = Z e x p [ - - flH(r)] = Z f l (II, e x p [K, a . . . a])

{o} {a} i=o

with ~.= E ... E , K i = flJ~ a n d fl = 1 / k n T . Using the identity

{o} a~• Cr6• Ll

e x p [ K ~ ] = cosh K + ~0 s i n h K ,

v a l i d for ~a ~ =t= 1, we w r i t e for eq. (6) t i m e x p r e s s i o n

(7) Z(r) : (h)rh

i=o
c~'
{o} ~-o
H,(1 + a ... ate) ,

w h e r e c i = c o s h K ~ a n d ti = t g h K~. From the fact that

Z~'= { 2, . even,
a= 0, a odd,

(6) B. B..'~IANDELBROT: Fractals: Force, Chance a n d D i m e n s i o n (San F r a n c i s c o , Cal., 1977).

Z 2 GAUGE MODEL ON 'FILE T I ~ - C N C A T F ~ D - T E T ~ A I I E D R O . N L A T T I C ~ 5~

it follows t h a t t h e only t e r m s in eq. (7) which g i v e rise to a n o n v a n i s h i n g c o n t r i b u t i o n

(when t h e sum o v e r spin configurations is p e r f o r m e d ) are t h e p r o d u c t of all t h e l ' s
and t h e p r o d u c t of all t h e a ... at~'s. T h e n ,

(8) Z(r) = 2~ (h :)(

i=0
c ' I--
i=0
t '
t
.

T h e connection w i t h t h e r m o d y n a m i c s is established b y finding t h e free energy

(9) .F(r) = - - ft.-.1 In Z ( r ) ~ -- ~-1 (

L In 2 -~- in ( 1+ t~' ~- ~ vi In c~ . )
Defining t h e free energy p e r p l a q u e t t e

~'(r) ~-1 (h
(10) i(r) :~ 1---;- l" In 2 P ~ in ci ,
i--O

we find for its t h e r m o d y n a m i c lilnit

(11) ]=~--~o~lim/{r)=--fi-1 31112+~=0 3i ]'

( lncq
since lira L I P = 3, lira v d P ~ 2/3 i+1 and tile second t e r m on t h e r.h.s, of eq. (10)
r co tt-~oo
v a n i s h e s in t h i s limit.
W e n o w t u r n our a t t e n t i o n to c o r l e l a t i o n fm~etions. As is w e l l known, a m o d e l
w i t h local s y m m e t r y does not m a g n e t i z e spontaneously. T h e reason for this is E l i t z u r ' s
t h e o r e m (,) which states t h a t only locally i n v a r i a n t q u a n t i t i e s can h a v e n o n v a n i s h i n g
e x p e c t a t i o n values. W e define, as usual, t h e p r o d u c t H a of spin v a r i a b l e s a r o u n d a
closed loop in the r-th order i t e r a t i o n and c o m p u t e its e x p e c t a t i o n v a l u e or correla-
tion f u n c t i o n

(12) <Ha>(,) = Z - ' ( r ) ]~ H a exp [-- fill(?')] = Z--'(r) c~' ~ H a (1 + ~ ... a t , ) .

{~,} - i=o {a} ~=o

I n this case t h e only t e r m s in t h e p r o d u c t e x p a n s i o n which give n o n v a n i s h i n g con-

tributions are the p r o d u c t of t h e o ... at~ factors corresponding to t h e p l a q u e t t e s inside
t h e loop and t h e p r o d u c t of t h e s a m e factors, b u t corresponding to the p l a q u e t t e s
o u t s i d e t h e loop. T h e result is

.... I ] t:"-"'
i~0 i~ 0
(13) <11 C I > { r ) =~ " " . . . . . .~. )

1 + 1-I t;"

(') S. E L I T Z U R : Phys. Ret,. D , 1 2 , 3 9 7 8 ( 1 9 7 5 ) .

56 ]E. CAMP:ESINO-I~.O.MEO, J . C. D ' O L I V O a n d ~ . $OCOLOVSKY

w h e r e #, is t h e n u m b e r of t y p e - / p l a q u e t t e s e n c l o s e d b y t h e loop. I n t h e t h e r m o d y -
n a m i c l i m i t all v / s --~ co a n d , s i n c e t~ < 1 f o r a n y T > 0, w e o b t a i n

(14) <F/a> = lira <IIa>c,~ = t~' = c x p Pi[ In t,] ) .

As t h i s e q u a t i o n shows, for a n y fixed T > 0 t h e v a l u e of all c o r r e l a t i o n f u n c t i o n s

oo
dccrease exponentially with )-~/~dlntd. H o w e v e r , i n t h e l i m i t of zero t e m p e r a t u r e

all t h e t / s - a p p r o a c h t h e v a l u e o n e a n d t h e r e f o r e all t h e c o r r e l a t i o n f u n c t i o n s a p p r o a c h
t h i s v a l u e . I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e e x p o n e n t i a l law b r e a k s d o w n s u d d e n l y a t T = 0.
F o r t h e p a r t i c u l a r a n d s i m p l e s t ease of a u n i f o r m d i s t r i b u t i o n of couplings, J o
= J1 = -.. = J , eqs. (1) a n d (14) r e d u c e t o

(11a) /=--fl-x(31n2A-lnc),

(14a) <F/a> = e x p [-- A lln t[],

oo
with c ~ coshflJ, t = tghflJ a n d A == Y~.~. Correlation functions then obey an
t--0
(, a r e a l a w ,~ for all p o s i t i v e t e m p e r a t u r e s .
As c a n b e e a s i l y verified, o u r e s p r e s s i o n s for t h e free e n e r g y p e r p l a q u e t t e , eq. (11),
a n d c o r r e l a t i o n f u n c t i o n s , eq. (14), h a v e , r e s p e c t i v e l y , t h e s a m e m a t h e m a t i c a l s t r u c t u r e
as t h e free e n e r g y p e r site a n d c o r r e l a t i o n f u n c t i o n s b e t w e e n t w o spins of t h e one-
d i m e n s i o n a l I s i n g c h a i n (s). T h i s s h o w s t h e p h y s i c a l e q u i v a l e n c e b e t w e e n t h e t w o
models. T h e e q u i v a l e n c e b e t w e e n a g a u g e s y s t e m a n d a s p i n s y s t e m i n a l o w e r n u m b e r
of d i m e n s i o n s is b y n o w a w e l l - k n o w n fact, m a n y e x a m p l e s of w h i c h c a n Do f o u n d i n
t h e l i t e r a t u r e (see e.g. ref. (5)). H o w e v e r , t h e i n t e r e s t i n g a n d n e w p o i n t is t h a t t h e
s a m e t y p e of e q u i v a l e n c e a r i s e s e v e n w h e n t h e g a u g e s y s t e m is p l a c e d o n a l a t t i c e
w i t h n o n i n t e g c r effective d i m c n s i o n .
***

W e wish t o t h a n k P r o f s . II. J o o s a n d ~,V. Zr~Mr~R~A~,'.'," f o r u s e f u l d i s c u s s i o n s .

(') H . E . ST&.'r Introducllor~ to P h a s e T r a n s i t i o n s a:td C r i t i c a l PheaoTrtena ( N e w Y o r k , N. Y., 1971).