ON THE LOW-TEMPERATURE ORDERING OF THE 3D ATIFERROMAGNETIC THREE-STATE POTTS MODEL

The antiferromagnetic three-state Potts model on the simple-cubic lattice is studied using Monte Carlo simulations. The ordering in a medium temperature range below the critical point is investigated in detail. Two different regimes have been observed: The so-called broken sublattice-symmetry phase dominates at sufficiently low temperatures, while the phase just below the critical point is characterized by an effectively continuous order parameter and by a fully restored rotational symmetry. However, the later phase is not the permutationally sublattice symmetric phase recently predicted by the cluster variation method.