INHOMOGENEOUS CRITICAL ISING-MODEL

The spectrum of the transfer matrix of a semi-infinite two-dimensional Isin model with marginally inhomogeneous couplings has been determined exactly in the finite-size-scaling limit at the bulk critical point. Depending on the local temperature at the boundary the surface phase transition of this system is either of first order or of second order with nonuniversal critical exponents. For a second-order transition, the excitation energies of the transfer matrix are inversely proportional to the linear size (N) of the system, but the levels are not equidistantly spaced. On the other hand, for a first-order transition the lowest gap vanishes algegraically, but faster than 1/N. © 1990 The American Physical Society.