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Reading 7: The Ising Model

Reading 7: The Ising Model#

For the class on Monday, February 5th

Reading assignments#

  1. Read the following sections of [CT14], Chap. 8 “The Ising model”:

    • Sec. 8.1 “Introduction”

    • Sec. 8.2 “Exact solution of the one-dimensional Ising model”

      • Skip or skim the derivation of the partition function [from Eq. (8.5) to (8.16)]. Deriving the exact solution is not the focus on this course, but the second half of Sec. 8.2 discusses some general properties of the Ising model that is useful to be aware of.

    • Sec. 8.3 “Monte Carlo simulations of the Ising model”

Questions#

Hint

Submit your answer on Canvas. Due at noon, Monday, February 5th.

  1. List anything from your reading that confuses you. Explain why they confuse you. If nothing confuses you, briefly summarize what you have learned from this reading assignment.

  2. Define “detailed balance” (in just 1–2 sentences) based on what you read.

Discussion Preview#

Note

We will discuss the following questions in class. They are included here so that you have a chance to think about them before class. You need not submit your answers as part of this assignment.

  1. We will discuss how to fully implement a two-dimensional Ising model.

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