Limit shape phase transitions. A merger of Arctic circles.

A limit shape phenomenon in statistical mechanics is the appearance of a most probable macroscopic state. This state is usually characterized by a well-defined boundary separating frozen and liquid spatial regions. The earliest studies related to this phenomenon in the context of crystal shapes are in works by Pokrovsky and Talapov [1]. We consider a class of topological phase transitions in the limit shape problem of statistical mechanics. The problem considered is generally known as the Arctic circle problem. The considered phase transition can be visualized as the merging of two melted regions (Arctic circles). We establish the mapping, which identifies the transition as the transition known in lattice QCD and random matrix problems [2,3]. The transition is a continuous phase transition of the third order. We identify universal features of the limiting shape close to the transition using the hydrodynamic description.

[1] V. L. Pokrovsky and A. L. Talapov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 65 (1979). "Ground State, Spectrum, and Phase Diagram of Two-Dimensional Incommensurate Crystals."

[2] D. J. Gross and E. Witten, Phys. Rev. D, 21 (2): 446, (1980). "Possible third-order phase transition in the large-n lattice gauge theory"; S. R. Wadia, Phys. Lett. B 93, 403 (1980). "$N=\infty$ phase transition in a class of exactly soluble model lattice gauge theories."

[3] M. R. Douglas and V. A. Kazakov. Phys. Lett. B, 319 (1-3): 219–230, 1993. "Large n phase transition in continuum QCD2."