Multiparameter universality and conformal field theory for anisotropic confined systems: test by Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

Analytic predictions have been derived recently by V. Dohm and S. Wessel, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 126}, 060601 (2021) from anisotropic $\varphi^4$ theory and conformal field theory for the amplitude ${\cal F}_c$ of the critical free energy of finite anisotropic systems in the two-dimensional Ising universality class. These predictions employ the hypothesis of multiparameter universality. We test these predictions by means of high-precision Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for ${\cal F}_c$ of the Ising model on a square lattice with isotropic ferromagnetic couplings between nearest neighbors and with an anisotropic coupling between next-nearest neighbors along one diagonal. We find remarkable agreement between the MC data and the analytical prediction. This agreement supports the validity of multiparameter universality and invalidates two-scale-factor universality as ${\cal F}_c$ is found to exhibit a nonuniversal dependence on the microscopic couplings of the scalar $\varphi^4$ model and the Ising model. Our results are compared with the exact result for ${\cal F}_c$ in the three-dimensional $\varphi^4$ model with a planar anisotropy in the spherical limit. The critical Casimir amplitude is briefly discussed.