Eur. Phys. J. B (2016) 89: 51
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2016-60781-7

Regular Article

Thermodynamics of the classical spin-ice model with nearest neighbour interactions using the Wang-Landau algorithm

¹ Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLySIB), UNLP-CONICET, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
² Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, 6300 Santa Rosa, Argentina
³ Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
⁴ Department of Physics, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK
⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK

^a e-mail: sag2@st-and.ac.uk

Received: 1 October 2015
Received in final form: 10 December 2015
Published online: 22 February 2016

Abstract

In this article we study the classical nearest-neighbour spin-ice model (nnSI) by means of Monte Carlo simulations, using the Wang-Landau algorithm. The nnSI describes several of the salient features of the spin-ice materials. Despite its simplicity it exhibits a remarkably rich behaviour. The model has been studied using a variety of techniques, thus it serves as an ideal benchmark to test the capabilities of the Wang Landau algorithm in magnetically frustrated systems. We study in detail the residual entropy of the nnSI and, by introducing an applied magnetic field in two different crystallographic directions ([111] and [100]), we explore the physics of the kagome-ice phase, the transition to full polarisation, and the three dimensional Kasteleyn transition. In the latter case, we discuss how additional constraints can be added to the Hamiltonian, by taking into account a selective choice of states in the partition function and, then, show how this choice leads to the realization of the ideal Kasteleyn transition in the system.