Please explain the Ising model in a simpler way, thank you

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
4 replies · 1K views
newbe318
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Hello, can anyone please explain to me in a different approach, rather than repeating a book definition, what is the Ising model? and what conclusions were made from it?

I would sincerely appreciate it, since I can't seem to grasp the concept even after reading numerous articles online and in books.

Thank you.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Probably we could give you simpler answer if you say what is not simple to understand. Nevertheless, in my opinion, Ising model is only a model which does not have any deep physics. To me, briefly, magnetic moments are vectors which could orientate in any direction and Ising model simply assumes that they could point up or down.
 
It's a very simplified model of magnetism. It's not intended to be accurate, but rather a conceptual model of how phase changes can happen in a toy model. At high temperatures, the spins of each 'atom' are random and give zero overall magnetization, but below a critical temperature, the spins are correlated to a degree, giving an overall magnetization.
 
Thank you so much. That clears up a lot of questions.