Two-dimensional random-bond Ising model, free fermions, and the network model

We develop a recently proposed mapping of the two-dimensional Ising model with random exchange (RBIM) via the transfer matrix, to a network model for a disordered system of noninteracting fermions. The RBIM transforms in this way to a localization problem belonging to one of a set of nonstandard symmetry classes, known as class D; the transition between paramagnet and ferromagnet is equivalent to a delocalization transition between an insulator and a quantum Hall conductor. We establish the mapping as an exact and efficient tool for numerical analysis: using it, the computational effort required to study a system of width M is proportional to M^3, and not exponential in M as with conventional algorithms. We show how the approach may be used to calculate for the RBIM the free energy, typical correlation lengths in quasi-one dimension for both the spin and the disorder operators, and the even powers of spin-spin correlation functions and their disorder averages. We examine in detail the square-lattice, nearest-neighbor RBIM, in which bonds are independently antiferromagnetic with probability p, and ferromagnetic with probability 1-p. Studying temperatures T>~0. 4J, we obtain precise coordinates in the p-T plane for points on the phase boundary between ferromagnet and paramagnet, and for the multicritical (Nishimori) point. We demonstrate scaling flow towards the pure Ising fixed point at small p, and determine critical exponents at the multicritical point.