Ordering transition of the three-dimensional four-state random-field Potts model

Abstract: Spin systems exposed to the influence of random magnetic fields are paradigmatic examples for studying the effect of quenched disorder on condensed-matter systems. In this context, previous studies have almost exclusively focused on systems with Ising or continuous symmetries, while the Potts symmetry, albeit being of fundamental importance also for the description of realistic physical systems, has received very little attention. In the present study, we use a recently developed quasi-exact method for determining ground states in the random-field Potts model to study the problem with four states. Extending the protocol applied for the three-state model, we use extensive finite-size scaling analyses of the magnetization, Binder parameter, energy cumulant, specific heat, and the connected as well as disconnected susceptibilities to study the magnetic ordering transition of the model. In contrast to the system in the absence of disorder, we find compelling evidence for a continuous transition, and we precisely determine the critical point as well as the critical exponents, which are found to differ from the exponents of the three-state system as well as from those of the random-field Ising model.