SHORT Course: Introduction to the Ising Model

Monday 13 Apr 2026, 09:00 → Friday 24 Apr 2026, 09:00 Europe/Rome

GSSI

Lecturer
Stefano Olla stefano.olla@gssi.it

Timetable and workload
Lectures: 16 hours

Course content
The Ising model is one of the most fundamental and influential models in statistical physics. It provides the simplest setting in which a genuine phase transition can be rigorously studied.

This course begins with an introduction to the model and its physical and mathematical foundations. We will then focus on two cornerstone results:
    • the existence of a phase transition at low temperature (via the Peierls argument),
    • the absence of a phase transition at high temperature (via cluster expansion),
If time permits, we will explore the deep connections between the Ising model and percolation theory.