Alternative boundary conditions for Monte Carlo simulations based on self-consistent correlations: application to the...

An alternative to periodic boundary conditions is developed and tested in Monte Carlo simulations of the two- and three-dimensional Ising models. The boundary conditions are based on a mean-field approach that incorporates consistency constraints for the magnetization and correlations between nearest neighbors by means of an effective field and an extra coupling between nearest neighbors at the boundary of the simulation box. During the simulation the self-consistent equations are solved, and statistics are accumulated to obtain thermodynamic averages. In comparison with the standard periodic boundary conditions the method gives a more accurate estimation of nonuniversal magnitudes, such as the transition temperature and the behavior of the magnetization, but it cannot compete with the accuracy of other strategies such as finite-size scaling theory or Monte Carlo renormalization group to obtain critical exponents.