- Open Access
Thinning algorithms for the Monte Carlo simulation of kinetic Ising models
Phys. Rev. E 112, 055311 – Published 17 November, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6cgy-dl4y
Abstract
The thinning method for numerically generating the arrival times of nonhomogeneous Poisson processes (NHPPs) has been adapted to accelerate Monte Carlo simulations of kinetic Ising models (KIMs) with Glauber spin-flip dynamics. The performance of the proposed algorithms is illustrated through simulations of the decay of metastable states in stationary KIMs and of the hysteresis of KIMs in a periodic external field. The thinning is implemented using piecewise-constant majorizing functions that bound from above or are equal to the NHPP rate. In favorable cases, this approach enables the simulations of hysteresis at frequencies in the tens of nanohertz and the decay of metastable states with lifetimes many orders magnitude longer than those accessible in previous simulations. The simulated results show good agreement with low-temperature analytical theories. Although algorithmic acceleration becomes more pronounced at lower temperatures, hysteresis has been simulated at moderately low temperatures of practical relevance, ranging from below room temperature up to values used in hyperthermia applications.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (51)
- M. W. Macy, B. K. Szymanski, and J. A. Hołyst, The Ising model celebrates a century of interdisciplinary contributions, npj Complex. 1, 10 (2024).
- F. Ducastelle, Order and Phase Stability in Alloys (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1991).
- P. Bruscolini, A. Pelizzola, and M. Zamparo, Rate determining factors in protein model structures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 038103 (2007).
- M. Aguilera, S. A. Moosavi, and H. Shimazaki, A unifying framework for mean-field theories of asymmetric kinetic Ising systems, Nat. Commun. 12, 1197 (2021).
- S. Kirkpatrick, C. D. Gelatt, and M. P. Vecchi, Optimization by simulated annealing, Science 220, 671 (1983).
- D. Landau and K. Binder, A Guide to Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009).
- A. Chatterjee and D. G. Vlachos, An overview of spatial microscopic and accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo methods, J. Comput.-Aided Mater. Des. 14, 253 (2007).
- K. Binder and P. Virnau, Overview: Understanding nucleation phenomena from simulations of lattice gas models, J. Chem. Phys. 145, 211701 (2016).
- N. Metropolis, A. W. Rosenbluth, M. N. Rosenbluth, A. H. Teller, and E. Teller, Equation of state calculations by fast computing machines, J. Chem. Phys. 21, 1087 (1953).
- A. B. Bortz, M. H. Kalos, and J. L. Lebowitz, A new algorithm for Monte Carlo simulation of Ising spin systems, J. Comput. Phys. 17, 10 (1975).
- M. A. Novotny, Monte Carlo algorithms with absorbing Markov chains: Fast local algorithms for slow dynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 1 (1995).
- E. Adam, L. Billard, and F. Lançon, Class of Monte Carlo algorithms for dynamic problems leads to an adaptive method, Phys. Rev. E 59, 1212 (1999).
- S. A. Trygubenko and D. J. Wales, Graph transformation method for calculating waiting times in Markov chains, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 234110 (2006).
- T. Opplestrup, V. V. Bulatov, G. H. Gilmer, M. H. Kalos, and B. Sadigh, First-passage Monte Carlo algorithm: Diffusion without all the hops, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 230602 (2006).
- V. I. Tokar and H. Dreyssé, Accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm for diffusion-limited kinetics, Phys. Rev. E 77, 066705 (2008).
- B. K. Chakrabarti and M. Acharyya, Dynamic transitions and hysteresis, Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, 847 (1999).
- M. A. Novotny, D. T. Robb, S. M. Stinnett, G. Brown, and P. A. Rikvold, in Magnetic Nanostructures, edited by B. Aktaş, F. Mikailov, and L. Tagirov (Springer, Berlin, 2007), pp. 97–117.
- A. J. Giustini, A. A. Petryk, S. M. Cassim, J. A. Tate, I. Baker, and P. J. Hoopes, Magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia in cancer treatment, Nano LIFE 01, 17 (2010).
- S. W. Sides, P. A. Rikvold, and M. A. Novotny, Stochastic hysteresis and resonance in a kinetic Ising system, Phys. Rev. E 57, 6512 (1998).
- H. Zhu, S. Dong, and J.-M. Liu, Hysteresis loop area of the Ising model, Phys. Rev. B 70, 132403 (2004).
- P. A. Rikvold, H. Tomita, S. Miyashita, and S. W. Sides, Metastable lifetimes in a kinetic Ising model: Dependence on field and system size, Phys. Rev. E 49, 5080 (1994).
- S. W. Sides, P. A. Rikvold, and M. A. Novotny, Hysteresis loop areas in kinetic Ising models: Effects of the switching mechanism, J. Appl. Phys. 83, 6494 (1998).
- M. A. Novotny, Low-temperature long-time simulations of Ising ferromagnets using the Monte Carlo with absorbing Markov chains method, Comput. Phys. Commun. 147, 659 (2002).
- M. A. Novotny, G. Brown, and P. A. Rikvold, Large-scale computer investigations of finite-temperature nucleation and growth phenomena in magnetization reversal and hysteresis (invited), J. Appl. Phys. 91, 6908 (2002).
- R. L. Streit, Poisson Point Processes: Imaging, Tracking, and Sensing (Springer, New York, 2010).
- R. Pasupathy, Generating homogeneous Poisson processes, in Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science, edited by J. J. Cochran, L. A. Cox, Jr., P. Keskinocak, J. P. Kharoufeh, and J. C. Smith (Wiley, New York, 2011), pp. 1–11.
- S. Ross, Introduction to Probability Models, 10th ed. (Academic, New York, 2010).
- S. Harrod and W. D. Kelton, Numerical methods for realizing nonstationary Poisson processes with piecewise-constant instantaneous-rate functions, SIMULATION 82, 147 (2006).
- G. Casella and R. Berger, Statistical Inference, 2nd ed. (Chapman and Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, 2024).
- P. A. W. Lewis and G. S. Shedler, Simulation of nonhomogeneous Poisson process by thinning, Naval Res. Logist. Q. 26, 403 (1979).
- A. W. Marshall and I. Olkin, in Inequalities: Theory of Majorization and its Applications, Mathematics in Science and Engineering, Vol. 143, edited by R. Bellman (Academic, New York, 1979).
- E. Neves and R. Schonmann, Critical droplets and metastability for a Glauber dynamics at very low temperatures, Commun. Math. Phys. 137, 209 (1991).
- A. Bovier and F. Manzo, Metastability in Glauber dynamics in the low-temperature limit: Beyond exponential asymptoticsa, J. Stat. Phys. 107, 757 (2002).
- V. A. Shneidman and G. M. Nita, Nucleation preexponential in dynamic Ising models at moderately strong fields, Phys. Rev. E 68, 021605 (2003).
- Z. D. Vatansever, E. Vatansever, A. Berger, A. Vasilopoulos, and N. G. Fytas, Monte Carlo study of the two-dimensional kinetic Ising model under a nonantisymmetric magnetic field, Phys. Rev. E 110, 064155 (2024).
- R. J. Glauber, Time-dependent statistics of the Ising model, J. Math. Phys. 4, 294 (1963).
- K. Park, P. A. Rikvold, G. M. Buendía, and M. A. Novotny, Low-temperature nucleation in a kinetic Ising model with soft stochastic dynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 015701 (2004).
- V. Tokar and H. Dreyssé, Datasets to figures in “Thinning algorithms for the Monte Carlo simulation of kinetic Ising models”, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30438422.v2 (Figshare, London, 2025).
- G. M. Buendía and P. A. Rikvold, Fluctuations in a model ferromagnetic film driven by a slowly oscillating field with a constant bias, Phys. Rev. B 96, 134306 (2017).
- J.-S. Suen, M. H. Lee, G. Teeter, and J. L. Erskine, Magnetic hysteresis dynamics of thin Co films on Cu(001), Phys. Rev. B 59, 4249 (1999).
- J.-S. Suen and J. L. Erskine, Magnetic hysteresis dynamics: Thin Fe films on flat and stepped W(110), Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3567 (1997).
- R. Brockett, Finite Dimensional Linear Systems (Wiley, New York, 1970).
- V. A. Shneidman, On the lowest energy nucleation path in a supersaturated lattice gas, J. Stat. Phys. 112, 293 (2003).
- V. A. Shneidman, Branching of nucleation paths in a metastable lattice gas with Metropolis dynamics, New J. Phys. 7, 12 (2005).
- C. M. Bender and S. A. Orszag, Advanced Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers: Asymptotic Methods and Perturbation Theory (Springer, Berlin, 1999).
- L. P. Kadanoff, More is the same; Phase transitions and mean field theories, J. Stat. Phys. 137, 777 (2009).
- T. Tomé and M. J. de Oliveira, Dynamic phase transition in the kinetic Ising model under a time-dependent oscillating field, Phys. Rev. A 41, 4251 (1990).
- V. I. Tokar, Effective Hamiltonian approach to kinetic Ising models: Application to an infinitely long-range Husimi-Temperley model, Phys. Rev. E 109, 044123 (2024).
- G. Korniss, P. A. Rikvold, and M. A. Novotny, Absence of first-order transition and tricritical point in the dynamic phase diagram of a spatially extended bistable system in an oscillating field, Phys. Rev. E 66, 056127 (2002).
- V. A. Shneidman and G. M. Nita, Modulation of the nucleation rate preexponential in a low-temperature Ising system, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 025701 (2002).
- M. A. Novotny, Low-temperature metastability of Ising models: Prefactors, divergences, and discontinuities, in Computer Simulation Studies in Condensed-Matter Physics XV, edited by D. P. Landau, S. P. Lewis, and H.-B. Schüttler (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2003), pp. 7–19.