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Apparent phase transitions in finite one-dimensional sine-Gordon lattices

S. Ares; J.A. Cuesta; A. Sanchez; R. Toral
Physical Review E 67, 046108 (1-6) (2003)

We study the one-dimensional sine-Gordon model as a prototype of roughening phenomena. In spite of the fact that it has been recently proven that this model can not have any phase transition [J.A.Cuesta and A.Sanchez,J.Phys.A35, 2373 (2002)], Langevin as well as Monte Carlo simulations strongly suggest the existence of a finite temperature separating a flat from a rough phase. We explain this result by means of the transfer operator formalism and show as a consequence that sine-Gordon lattices of any practically achievable size will exhibit this apparent phase transition at unexpectedly large temperatures.