On the low-temperature ordering of the 3D antiferromagnetic three-state Potts model

The antiferromagnetic three-state Potts model on the simple-cubic lattice is studied using Monte Carlo simulations. The ordering in a medium temperature range below the critical point is investigated in detail. Two different regimes have been observed: the so-called broken sublattice-symmetry phase dominates at sufficiently low temperatures, while the phase just below the critical point is characterized by an effectively continuous order parameter and by a fully restored rotational symmetry. However, the latter phase is not the permutationally sublattice symmetric phase recently predicted by the cluster variation method.