Two-dimensional interacting self-avoiding walks: new estimates for critical temperatures and exponents

Abstract

We investigate, by series methods, the behaviour of interacting self-avoiding walks (ISAWs) on the honeycomb lattice and on the square lattice. This is the first such investigation of ISAWs on the honeycomb lattice. We have generated data for ISAWs up to 75 steps on this lattice, and 55 steps on the square lattice. For the hexagonal lattice we find the $θ$-point to be at $u_\mathrm{c} = 2.767 \pm 0.002.$ The honeycomb lattice is unique among the regular two-dimensional lattices in that the exact growth constant is known for non-interacting walks, and is $\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2}}$, while for half-plane walks interacting with a surface, the critical fugacity, again for the honeycomb lattice, is $1+\sqrt{2}$. We could not help but notice that $\sqrt{2+4\sqrt{2}} = 2.767\ldots .$ We discuss the difficulties of trying to prove, or disprove, this possibility. For square lattice ISAWs we find $u_\mathrm{c}=1.9474 \pm 0.001,$ which is consistent with the best Monte Carlo analysis. We also study bridges and terminally-attached walks (TAWs) on the square lattice at the $θ$-point. We estimate the exponents to be $γ_b=0.00 \pm 0.03,$ and $γ_1=0.55 \pm 0.03$ respectively. The latter result is consistent with the prediction $γ_1(θ) = ν=\frac47$, albeit for a modified version of the problem, while the former estimate appears to be new.