THE CONICAL POINT IN THE FERROELECTRIC 6-VERTEX MODEL

We examine the last unexplored regime of the asymmetric six-vertex mod el: the low-temperature phase of the so-called ferroelectric model. Th e original publication of the exact solution by Sutherland, Yang, and Yang and various derivations and reviews published afterward do not co ntain many details about this regime. We study the exact solution for this model by numerical and analytical methods. In particular, we exam ine the behavior of the model in the vicinity of an unusual coexistenc e point that we call the ''conical'' point. This point corresponds to additional singularities in the free energy that were not discussed in the original solution. We show analytically that at this point many p olarizations coexist, and that unusual scaling properties hold in its vicinity.