Crossover Finite-Size Scaling Theory and Its Applications in Percolation

Abstract: Finite-size scaling (FSS) for a critical phase transition ($t=0$) states that within a window of size $|t|\sim L^{-1/\nu}$, the scaling behavior of any observable $Q$ in a system of linear size $L$ asymptotically follows a scaling form as $Q(t,L)=L^{Y_Q}\tilde{Q}(tL^{1/\nu})$, where $\nu$ is the correlation-length exponent, $Y_Q$ is an FSS exponent and ${\tilde Q}(x)$ is a function of the scaled distance-to-criticality $x \equiv tL^{1/\nu}$. We systematically study the asymptotic scaling behavior of ${\tilde Q}(|x|\to\infty)$ for a broad variety of observables by requiring that the FSS and infinite-system critical behaviors match with each other in the crossover critical regime with $t \to 0$ and $|x|\to\infty$. This crossover FSS theory predicts that when the criticality is approached at a slower speed as $|t|\sim L^{-\lambda}$ with $\lambda <1/\nu$, the FSS becomes $\lambda$-dependent and the exponent can be derived. As applications, explosive percolation and high-dimensional percolation are considered. For the former, it is shown that the widely observed anomalous phenomena at the infinite-system criticality $t=0$ can be attributed to the mixing effects of the standard FSS behaviors around the pseudocritical point in an event-based ensemble. For the latter, FSS exponents are found to be different at the infinite-system critical and the pseudocritical point if free boundary conditions are used, and they are related to each other by using the crossover FSS theory. From these observations, the FSS of percolation systems falls into three classifications. Extensive simulations are carried out to affirm these predictions.