# Unusual corrections to scaling in the 3-state Potts antiferromagnet on a square lattice

### John Cardy 1, Jesper-Lykke Jacobsen 2, Alan D. Sokal 3

#### Journal of Statistical Physics 105 (2001) 25-47

At zero temperature, the 3-state antiferromagnetic Potts model on a square lattice maps exactly onto a point of the 6-vertex model whose long-distance behavior is equivalent to that of a free scalar boson. We point out that at nonzero temperature there are two distinct types of excitation: vortices, which are relevant with renormalization-group eigenvalue 1/2; and non-vortex unsatisfied bonds, which are strictly marginal and serve only to renormalize the stiffness coefficient of the underlying free boson. Together these excitations lead to an unusual form for the corrections to scaling: for example, the correlation length diverges as \beta \equiv J/kT \to \infty according to \xi \sim A e^{2\beta} (1 + b\beta e^{-\beta} + ...), where b is a nonuniversal constant that may nevertheless be determined independently. A similar result holds for the staggered susceptibility. These results are shown to be consistent with the anomalous behavior found in the Monte Carlo simulations of Ferreira and Sokal.

• 1. Oxford University (THEORETICAL PHYSICS),
University of Oxford
• 2. Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS),
CNRS : UMR8626 – Université Paris XI - Paris Sud
• 3. New York University (DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS),
New York University