On the Ising model for the simple cubic lattice

The Ising model was introduced in 1920 to describe a uniaxial system of magnetic moments, localized on a lattice, interacting via nearest-neighbour exchange interaction. It is the generic model for a continuous phase transition and arguably the most studied model in theoretical physics. Since it was solved for a two-dimensional lattice by Onsager in 1944, thereby representing one of the very few exactly solvable models in dimensions higher than one, it has served as a testing ground for new developments in analytic treatment and numerical algorithms. Only series expansions and numerical approaches, such as Monte Carlo simulations, are available in three dimensions. This review focuses on Monte Carlo simulation. We build upon a data set of unprecedented size. A great number of quantities of the model are estimated near the critical coupling. We present both a conventional analysis and an analysis in terms of a Puiseux series for the critical exponents. The former gives distinct values of the high- and low-temperature exponents; by means of the latter we can get these exponents to be equal at the cost of having true asymptotic behaviour being found only extremely close to the critical point. The consequences of this for simulations of lattice systems are discussed at length.