Critical behavior of long linear k-mers on honeycomb lattices

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, finite-size scaling and theoretical analysis have been carried out to study the critical behavior of long linear particles of length k (k-mers) on honeycomb lattices. A nematic phase, characterized by a big domain of parallel k-mers, is separated from the isotropic state, by a continuous transition occurring at a finite density theta(c). Our study allowed: (1) to determine the minimum value of k (k(min)), which allows the formation of the nematic phase, being k(min) = 11; (2) to predict the dependence of theta(c) on k, being theta(c)(k) alpha k(-1); and (3) to obtain the critical exponents, which indicate that the transition belongs to the 2D three-state Potts universality class. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.