The effect of small amounts of bond or site dilution on n≥2 Ising antiferromagnets (AF) in zero external field is studied. It is shown (a) that such impurities generate spatially random symmetry breaking, much like a random anisotropy along a few axes; (b) that any small amount of these impurities obliterates long-range order in d<2 (and very likely in d=2) dimensions in these systems; and (c) that the corresponding crossover exponent for these systems is, for any spatial dimensionality, φ=γ-2β (instead of φ=α, as prescribed by the Harris criterion for random ferromagnets). Both transfer-matrix (TM) and Monte Carlo (MC) results are obtained for an Ising AF with nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor interactions. The TM data, obtained for long narrow strips at low temperature, and the MC results, for two-dimensional systems in the critical region, support the above conclusions.

• Received 25 February 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.38.6901