Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: The ``canonical'' variables of the Kosterlitz-Thouless theory---fields ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{0}(\mathbf{r})$ and $\ensuremath{\varphi}(\mathbf{r})$, generally believed to stand for vortices and phonons (or their $XY$ equivalents, like spin waves, etc.) turn out to be neither vortices and phonons, nor, strictly speaking, canonical variables. The latter fact explains paradoxes of (i) absence of interaction between ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{0}$ and $\ensuremath{\varphi}$, and (ii) nonphysical contribution of small vortex pairs to long-range phase correlations. We resolve the paradoxes by explicitly relating ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{0}$ and $\ensuremath{\varphi}$ to canonical vortex-pair and phonon variables.
Source: Physical Review B
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2021875313