Hard core lattice gas with third next-nearest neighbor exclusion on triangular lattice: one or two phase transitions?

Abstract: We obtain the phase diagram of the hard core lattice gas with third nearest neighbor exclusion on the triangular lattice using Monte Carlo simulations that are based on a rejection-free flat histogram algorithm. In a paper [J. Chem. Phys. 151, 104702 (2019)], it was claimed that the lattice gas with third nearest neighbor exclusion undergoes two phase transitions with increasing density, with the phase at intermediate densities exhibiting hexatic order with continuously varying exponents. Though a hexatic phase is expected when the exclusion range is large, it has not been seen earlier in hard core lattice gases with short range exclusion. In this paper, by numerically determining the entropies for all densities, we show unambiguously that there is only a single phase transition in the system between a low-density fluid phase and a high-density ordered sublattice phase, and that a hexatic phase is absent. The transition is shown to be first order in nature and the critical parameters are determined accurately.