How many phases nucleate in the bidimensional Potts model?

We study the kinetics of the two-dimensional q > 4-state Potts model after a shallow quench to a temperature slightly below the critical one and above the pseudo spinodal. We use numerical methods and we focus on intermediate values of q, 4 < q <= 100. We show that, initially, the system evolves as if it were quenched to the critical temperature: the configurations exhibit correlations that are indistinguishable from the ones in equilibrium at T (c)(q) over longer and longer length scales as time elapses. The further decay from the metastable state occurs by nucleation of an average number k out of the q possible phases. For a given quench temperature, k is a logarithmically increasing function of the system size, bounded by q. This unusual finite size dependence is a consequence of a scaling property underlying the nucleation phenomenon for these parameters.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigated the kinetics of the two-dimensional q > 4-state Potts model after a shallow quench. The results showed that the system initially evolved as if it had been quenched to the critical temperature, with configurations exhibiting correlations indistinguishable from equilibrium. The decay from the metastable state occurred through nucleation of an average number k out of the q possible phases, with k logarithmically increasing with system size bounded by q. This unusual finite size dependence was a consequence of scaling properties underlying the nucleation phenomenon for these parameters.