Color Representations of Ising Models

In Steif and Tykesson (J Prob 16:899–955, 2019), the authors introduced the so-called general divide and color models. One of the best-known examples of such a model is the Ising model with external field $$ h = 0 $$ h = 0 , which has a color representation given by the random cluster model. In this paper, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for this color representation to be unique. We also show that if one considers the Ising model on a complete graph, then for many $$ h > 0 $$ h > 0 , there is no color representation. This shows, in particular, that any generalization of the random cluster model which provides color representations of Ising models with external fields cannot, in general, be a generalized divide and color model. Furthermore, we show that there can be at most finitely many $$ \beta > 0 $$ β > 0 at which the random cluster model can be continuously extended to a color representation for $$ h \not = 0 $$ h ≠ 0 .