Abstract

In this paper we propose a method to study critical systems numerically, which combines collective-mode algorithms and renormalization group on the lattice. This method is an improved version of the Monte Carlo renormalization group in the sense that it has all the advantages of cluster algorithms. As an application we considered the 2D Ising model and studied whether scale invariance or universality are possible underlying mechanisms responsible for the approximate "universal fluctuations" close to a so-called bulk temperature T* (L). "Universal fluctuations" were first proposed in the work of Bramwell, Holdsworth, and Pinton [Nature (London) 396, 552 (1998)] and stated that the probability density function of a global quantity for very dissimilar systems, such as a confined turbulent flow and a two-dimensional (2D) magnetic system, properly normalized to the first two moments, becomes similar to the "universal distribution," originally obtained for magnetization in the 2D XY model in the low-temperature region. The results for the critical exponents and the renormalization-group flow of the probability density function are very accurate and show no evidence to support that the approximate common shape of the PDF should be related to both scale invariance or universal behavior. © 2008 The American Physical Society.