Numerical study of the three-state Ashkin-Teller model with competing dynamics

An open ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller model with spin variables 0, ±1 is studied by standard Monte Carlo simulations on a square lattice in the presence of competing Glauber and Kawasaki dynamics. The Kawasaki dynamics simulates spin-exchange processes that continuously flow energy into the system from an external source. Our calculations reveal the presence, in the model, of tricritical points where first order and second order transition lines meet. Beyond that, several self-organized phases are detected when Kawasaki dynamics become dominant. Phase diagrams that comprise phase boundaries and stationary states have been determined in the model parameters’ space. In the case where spin-phonon interactions are incorporated in the model Hamiltonian, numerical results indicate that the paramagnetic phase is stabilized and almost all of the self-organized phases are destroyed.