Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/iii/paper-41/1/v/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 41 1 v Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A tricritical point occurs at with : tuning changes a continuous transition into a first-order one. At , the equation of state is . It gives at , at , and a minimized free energy proportional to below the transition. The mean-field tricritical exponents areIn the three-dimensional parameter space , the zero-field disordered-to-ordered continuous line meets the first-order line at the tricritical point. The zero-field surface also contains coexistence of positive and negative ordered phases. For negative , tilting with produces two symmetric tricritical wings of first-order coexistence, each bounded by a line of ordinary critical endpoints. Those wings and their critical edges meet at the tricritical point. The upper critical dimension of tricritical sextic theory is three, so mean-field values can acquire logarithmic corrections there.
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