title: Phase-space networks of the six-vertex model under different boundary conditions.
abstract: The six-vertex model is mapped to three-dimensional sphere stacks and different boundary conditions corresponding to different containers. The shape of the container provides a qualitative visualization of the boundary effect. Based on the sphere-stacking picture, we map the phase spaces of the six-vertex models to discrete networks. A node in the network represents a state of the system, and an edge between two nodes represents a zero-energy spin flip, which corresponds to adding or removing a sphere. The network analysis shows that the phase spaces of systems with different boundary conditions share some common features. We derived a few formulas for the number and the sizes of the disconnected phase-space subnetworks under the periodic boundary conditions. The sphere stacking provides new challenges in combinatorics and may cast light on some two-dimensional models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Yilong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han