Spin systems on hierarchical lattices. Introduction and thermodynamic limit

Abstract

A number of exactly soluble models in statistical mechanics can be produced with the use of spins interacting with nearest neighbors on a hierarchical lattice. A general definition and several examples of such lattices are given, and the topological properties of one of these, the "diamond" lattice, are discussed in detail. It is shown that the free energy has a well-defined thermodynamic limit for a large class of discrete spin models on hierarchical lattices.