Coulomb gas sum rules for vortex-pair fluctuations in 2D superfluids

Vortex fluctuations above and below the critical Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition temperature are characterized using simulations of the 2D XY model. The net winding number of vortices at a given temperature in a circle of radius $R$ is computed as a function of $R$. The average squared winding number is found to vary linearly with the perimeter of the circle at all temperatures above and below $T_{KT}$, and the slope with $R$ displays a sharp peak near the specific heat peak, decreasing then to a value at infinite temperature that is in agreement with an early theory by Dhar. We have also computed the vortex-vortex distribution functions, finding an asymptotic power-law variation in the vortex separation distance at all temperatures. In conjunction with a Coulomb-gas sum rule on the perimeter fluctuations, these can be used to successfully model the start of the perimeter-slope peak in the region below $T_{KT}$.

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