Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/iii/paper-303/1/a/i/solution

Write and . At high temperature , so has one minimum at . At low temperature , the origin is a local maximum and two symmetry-related minima appear. The stationary equation is
so the equilibrium magnetization is
and
Because , the two nonzero minima approach zero continuously as . The order parameter is continuous while its response becomes singular, so this is a continuous phase transition.

New to topics? Read the docs here!