PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

We analyze numerically the critical properties of a two-dimensional discretized random surface with extrinsic curvature embedded in a three-dimensional space. The use of the toroidal topology enables us to enforce the non-zero external extension without the necessity of defining a boundary and allows us to measure directly the string tension. We show that a most probably second-order phase transition from the crumpled phase to the smooth phase observed earlier for a spherical topology appears also for a toroidal surface for the same finite value of the coupling constant of the extrinsic curvature term. The phase transition is characterized by the vanishing of the string tension. We discuss the possible non-trivial continuum limit of the theory, when approaching the critical point.