2 research outputs found
Absence of a Finite-Temperature Melting Transition in the Classical Two-Dimensional One-Component Plasma
Vortices in thin-film superconductors are often modelled as a system of
particles interacting via a repulsive logarithmic potential. Arguments are
presented to show that the hypothetical (Abrikosov) crystalline state for such
particles is unstable at any finite temperature against proliferation of
screened disclinations. The correlation length of crystalline order is
predicted to grow as as the temperature is reduced to zero, in
excellent agreement with our simulations of this two-dimensional system.Comment: 3 figure
Simulations of Two-Dimensional Melting on the Surface of a Sphere
We have simulated a system of classical particles confined on the surface of
a sphere interacting with a repulsive potential. The same system
simulated on a plane with periodic boundary conditions has van der Waals loops
in pressure-density plots which are usually interpreted as evidence for a first
order melting transition, but on the sphere such loops are absent.
We also investigated the structure factor and from the width of the first
peak as a function of density we can show that the growth of the correlation
length is consistent with KTHNY theory. This suggests that simulations of two
dimensional melting phenomena are best performed on the surface of a sphere.Comment: 4 eps figure