Staggered eight-vertex model

An eight-vertex model with staggered (site-dependent) vertex weights is considered. The model is an extension of the usual one with translationally invariant weights and contains sixteen independent vertex weights. From its Ising representation it is seen that there are actually only eleven independent parameters. After discussing some general symmetry properties of this model, we consider in detail the soluble case of a free-fermion model. We find that the staggered free-fermion model may exhibit up to three phase transitions. Generally the specific heat has logarithmic singularities, expect in some special cases it has an exponent $\alpha =\frac{1}{2}$ and the system is frozen below a unique transition point. Conditions for these special cases are given.