NPAC Technical Report SCCS-012

Comparison of Cluster Algorithms for 2-d Potts Models

Clive Baillie, Paul Coddington

Submitted October 1 1990


Abstract

We have measured the dynamical critical exponent z for the Swendsen-Wang and the Wolff cluster update algorithms, as well as a number of variants of these algorithms, for the q=2 and q=3 Potts models in two dimensions. We find that although the autocorrelation times differ considerably between algorithms, the critical exponents are the same. For q=2, we find that although the data are better fitted by a logarithmic increase in the autocorrelation time with lattice size, they are also consistent with a power law with exponent $z \approx 0.25$, especially if there are non-negligible corrections to scaling.


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