Past exam of the theoretical physics major option course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / 1

Put $\beta =(k_{B}T{)}^{-1}$ and label the two spin values in the order $+1,-1$. Assign each bond its Boltzmann weight,The symmetry of the bond energy makes $V$ a real symmetric matrix. For a fixed configuration the product of successive matrix entries is its Boltzmann weight. Summing over all spins and identifying the last index with the first therefore giveswhereThis replaces a sum over $2^L$ configurations by the powers of a two-by-two matrix. For finite bond energies at $T>0$, every matrix entry is positive, so the Perron–Frobenius theorem gives ${\lambda }_{+}>0$ and $|{\lambda }_{-}|<{\lambda }_{+}$. Hence the Helmholtz free energy per spin tends to $-k_{B}T\log {\lambda }_{+}$. A diagonal local observable $O$ can be inserted at one site: $⟨O_1⟩=\mathrm{tr}(O{V}^L)/Z_L$. Its limiting average is the expectation in the normalized eigenvector of ${\lambda }_{+}$.

The sum needs a stated interpretation. The original equation leaves the second bond outside explicit parentheses, with its index then formally free. The natural translation-invariant, equal-bond interpretation used here is the energy $-J{\sum }_j{\tau }_j({\sigma }_j+{\sigma }_{j+1})$.

Let $K=\beta J$. Sum over each decorating spin before summing over the remaining spins. The decimation of an alternating mixed-spin chain gives the effective transfer matrix:No on-site entropy has been omitted: the term $1$ is the weight of the zero decorating spin. The normalized eigenvectors are $v_{\pm }=(1,\pm 1{)}^{\mathsf{T}}/\sqrt{2}$, with eigenvaluesThere are $L$ transfer steps but $2L$ physical sites, soThe free energy per two-site unit cell is twice this value. At $J=0$, the formula gives $Z_L=6^L$, as required by two states on one sublattice and three on the other. As $T\to 0$, the free energy per physical site tends to $-J$, the energy of an aligned chain with two satisfied bonds per unit cell. These checks also fix the factor of two in the site count.

Insert $D=\mathrm{diag}(1,-1)$ at the first undecorated site. In the eigenbasis of the transfer matrix, $D$ exchanges $v_{+}$ and $v_{-}$, and both diagonal matrix elements vanish. Explicitly,Thus its large-$L$ limit is zero at every fixed $T>0$. The result is exact even before taking that limit. Equivalently, simultaneous reversal of all spins pairs configurations of equal energy and opposite ${\sigma }_1$. Positivity of the transfer matrix at fixed positive temperature prevents a degenerate dominant eigenvalue and spontaneous magnetization in this one-dimensional zero-field chain. Selecting one aligned state at strictly zero temperature is a different order of limits.

Insert the decorating-spin observable into the one bond that contains it. The decorated-spin occupation insertion uses the matrix:The partition function still contains $L$ decorating-spin sums; one of them has been replaced by this weighted sum. HenceTaking the dominant eigenvector givesThis is the probability that the decorating site is in either nonzero state. It tends to $2/3$ at high temperature, when its three states are equally likely, and to one at low temperature, when the nonzero aligned states gain bond energy. Unlike the magnetization, this even observable is not forced to vanish by spin reversal.