Summary

We implemented a GPU-based parallel code to perform Monte Carlo simulations of the two-dimensional q-state Potts model. The algorithm is based on a checkerboard update scheme and assigns independent random number generators to each thread. The implementation allows to simulate systems up to ~109 spins with an average time per spin flip of 0.147 ns on the fastest GPU card tested, representing a speedup up to 155×, compared with an optimized serial code running on a high-end CPU. The possibility of performing high speed simulations at large enough system sizes allowed us to provide a positive numerical evidence about the existence of metastability on very large systems based on Binder’s criterion [1], namely, on the existence or not of specific heat singularities at spinodal temperatures different of the transition one. References