Finite-size scaling in the canonical ensemble

Abstract

We investigate the critical scaling behavior of finite systems in the canonical ensemble. The essential difference with the grand canonical ensemble. i.e., the constraint on the number of particles, is already known to lead to the Fisher renormalization phenomenon that modifies the thermal critical singularities. We show that, in observables that are not Fisher renormalized, it also leads to a finite-size effect governed by an exponent $y_1$ that depends on the temperature exponent $y_t$ and the dimensionality $d$ as $y_1=-|2y_t-d|$. We verify this prediction by a Monte Carlo analysis of several two-dimensional lattice models in the percolation, the Ising and the 3-state Potts universality classes.