The displacive structural phase transition in a two-dimensional model solid due to Benassi et al. [A. Benassi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 256102 (2011)] is analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling. The model is shown to be a member of the two-dimensional six-state clock model universality class. Consequently, the model features two phase transitions, implying the existence of three thermodynamically distinct phases, namely, a low-temperature phase with long-range order, an intermediate critical phase with power-law decay of correlations, and a high-temperature phase with short-range order.

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• Classical statistical mechanics
• Critical phenomena
• Phase transitions
• Finite-size scaling
• Monte Carlo methods