Metastability of the three-state Potts model with asymmetrical external field

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the metastable behavior of the Glauber dynamics associated with the three-state Potts model with an asymmetrical external field at a low-temperature regime. The model exhibits three monochromatic configurations: a unique stable state and two metastable states with different stability levels. We investigate metastable transitions, which are transitions from each metastable state to the ground state, separately and verify that the two transitions exhibit different behaviors.

For the metastable state with greater stability, we derive large deviation-type results for metastable transition time, both in terms of probability and expectation. On the other hand, a particularly intriguing phenomenon emerges when starting from the other metastable state: the process may fall into the deep valley of another metastable state with a low probability but remains trapped there for an exponentially long time. We identify specific conditions on the external field under which this rare event contributes to the mean hitting time. To this end, we conduct a detailed analysis of the energy landscape, revealing a sharp saddle configuration analogous to the Ising model.