Numerical study of phase transitions in the mixed-spin (1,3/2) Ashkin-Teller model with two competing dynamics

Abstract

Magnetic phase transitions and self-organization phenomena in an open ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller model with mixed-spin (1,3/2) variables defined on a square lattice are investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations in the presence of competing Glauber and Kawasaki dynamics. The latter simulates spin-exchange processes between neighboring sites and flows energy into the system from an external source. The thermal behavior of the system magnetizations and macroscopic instabilities have been thoroughly studied in the model parameters’space. Rich physical properties are got, in particular first- and second-order phase transitions and multicritical points. Self-organized antiferromagnetic phases are detected when the Kawasaki dynamics becomes dominant.