Ising auxiliary mean-field free energy

ID: ising-auxiliary-mean-field-free-energy

The approximate partition function obtained by decoupling each Ising bond has this free energy. The quadratic constant compensates double counting. Its stationary condition is the self-consistency equation; away from stationarity parametrizes the assumed effective field and need not equal that distribution's mean Ising spin. It agrees at stationary points with the Bragg-Williams free energy of the Ising model, although their off-equilibrium expansions differ.

New to topics? Read the docs here!