Complexity Explorer Santa Few Institute

The XY Model: demonstration

This demonstration shows a model similar to the Ising Model in which each vertex in the lattice can occupy a range of states (vectors). Nearest-neighbor energy comparisons allow global patterning in the lattice, i.e. neighboring vectors want to coordinate their alignment. Start the demonstration and watch the transition to an ordered lattice. Restart the demonstration a few times. What are the characteristics of the meta-stable configurations that persist the longest? Does the stable pattern look the same? Does the stable patterns emerge after (roughly) the same amount of time?

NOTE: "discrete" shows linear vectors; "continuous" shows vertices color-coded according to the underlying vector.