Comment on 'The exact location of partition function zeros, a new method for statistical mechanics'

Abstract

In a recent paper Wood (1985) conjectured that the exact location of the branch point singularity for the hard square lattice gas on the negative activity z axis is at z=-0.119392 . . .. A careful analysis of the available series data implies that this conjecture is almost certainly false. The author finds the correct value to be z=-0.1193388809+or-0.000000001, with the corresponding exponent indistinguishably close to 5/6 (corresponding to a zero of the singular part of the function).