Complete universal scaling of first-order phase transitions in the two-dimensional Ising model

Abstract

Phase transitions, as one of the most intriguing phenomena in nature, are divided into first-order phase transitions (FOPTs) and continuous ones in current classification. While the latter shows striking phenomena of scaling and universality, the former has recently also been demonstrated to exhibit scaling and universal behavior within a mesoscopic, coarse-grained Landau-Ginzburg theory. Here we apply this theory to a microscopic model -- the paradigmatic Ising model, which undergoes FOPTs between two ordered phases below its critical temperature -- and unambiguously demonstrate universal scaling behavior in such FOPTs. These results open the door for extending the theory to other microscopic FOPT systems and experimentally testing them to systematically uncover their scaling and universal behavior.