Local Magnetization in the Boundary Ising Chain at Finite Temperature

Abstract

We study the local magnetization in the 2-D Ising model at its critical temperature on a semi-infinite cylinder geometry, and with a nonzero magnetic field $h$ applied at the circular boundary of circumference $β$. This model is equivalent to the semi-infinite quantum critical 1-D transverse field Ising model at temperature $T \propto β^{-1}$, with a symmetry-breaking field $\propto h$ applied at the point boundary. Using conformal field theory methods we obtain the full scaling function for the local magnetization analytically in the continuum limit, thereby refining the previous results of Leclair, Lesage and Saleur in Ref. \onlinecite{Leclair}. The validity of our result as the continuum limit of the 1-D lattice model is confirmed numerically, exploiting a modified Jordan-Wigner representation. Applications of the result are discussed.

9 pages, 3 figures