Statistical mechanics of vortices from field theory

Abstract

We study with lattice Monte Carlo simulations the interactions and macroscopic behaviour of a large number of vortices in the 3-dimensional U(1) gauge+Higgs field theory, in an external magnetic field. We determine non-perturbatively the (attractive or repelling) interaction energy between two or more vortices, as well as the critical field strength H_c, the thermodynamical discontinuities, and the surface tension related to the boundary between the Meissner phase and the Coulomb phase in the type I region. We also investigate the emergence of vortex lattice and vortex liquid phases in the type II region. For the type I region the results obtained are in qualitative agreement with mean field theory, except for small values of H_c, while in the type II region there are significant discrepancies. These findings are relevant for superconductors and some models of cosmic strings, as well as for the electroweak phase transition in a magnetic field.

arXiv comment30 pages, 12 figures; references added, to appear in Nucl.Phys.B

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Statistical Mechanics of Vortices from D-branes and T-duality
• Vortex Interactions and Thermally Induced Crossover from Type-I to Type-II Superconductivity
• O(2) symmetry breaking vs. vortex loop percolation
• Duality and scaling in 3-dimensional scalar electrodynamics
• Higher-dimensional operators at finite-temperature affect gravitational-wave predictions
• Topological Defects from First Order Gauge Theory Phase Transitions
• Critical behaviour of the Ginzburg-Landau model in the type II region
• Gluodynamics in external field in dual superconductor approach
• Non-Abelian vortex in lattice gauge theory
• Decoupling of Layers in the Three-dimensional Abelian Higgs Model