The Dual Gonihedric 3D Ising Model
  We investigate the dual of the kappa=0 Gonihedric Ising model on a 3D cubic lattice, which may be written as an anisotropically coupled Ashkin-Teller model. The original kappa=0 Gonihedric model has a purely plaquette interaction, displays a first order transition and possesses a highly degenerate ground state.   We find that the dual model admits a similar large ground state degeneracy as a result of the anisotropic couplings and investigate the coupled mean field equations for the model on a single cube. We also carry out Monte Carlo simulations which confirm a first order phase transition in the model and suggest that the ground state degeneracy persists throughout the low temperature phase. Some exploratory cooling simulations also hint at non-trivial dynamical behaviour. 
D. A. Johnston and R. P. K. C. M. Ranasinghe
cond-mat.stat-mech