Talk: The 3D Gonihedric Ising Model and its Phase Diagram for κ≠0

The gonihedric Ising model was originally introduced as a lattice discretisation of fluctuating surfaces encountered in high-energy physics. The energy penalty of self-intersections of the surface is described by the parameter κ. The model exhibits a phase transition from a ferromagnetic or layered ordered phase to a disordered phase. It has recently sparked interest for its unusual low-temperature phase degeneracy and its effect on the phase transition. The case with no self-intersection penalty is already quite well analysed. Here I present results for nonzero self-intersection cost. Increasing κ changes the nature of the phase transition from first-order to continuous. By employing a flat-histogram Monte Carlo algorithm the phase diagram of the model and the change of nature of the transition
are surveyed. For the continuous transition at κ=1 critical exponents are calculated.