Scaling laws for the two-dimensional eight-state Potts model with fixed boundary conditions

We study the effects of frozen boundaries in a Monte Carlo simulation near a first-order phase transition. Recent theoretical analysis of the dynamics of first-order phase transitions has enabled us to state the scaling laws governing the critical regime of the transition. We check these new scaling laws performing a Monte Carlo simulation of the two-dimensional, eight-state spin Potts model. In particular, our results support a pseudocritical β(L) finite-size scaling of the form β(∞) + a1/L + a2/L2, instead of β(∞) + θ1/Ld + θ2/L2d. Moreover, we obtain a latent heat ΛFBC=0.294(11), which does not coincide with the latent heat analytically derived for the same model if periodic boundary conditions are assumed, ΛPBC=0.4863 58....