The melting of the classical two dimensional Wigner crystal

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the melting process of a classical 2D Wigner crystal, revealing a weakly first-order fluid-hexatic transition and the presence of a hexatic phase.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed Monte Carlo analysis showing the nature of the phase transition and the existence of a hexatic phase in the melting of a 2D Wigner crystal.

Findings

Discovery of a hexatic phase in large systems.

Identification of a weakly first-order fluid-hexatic transition.

Absence of critical exponents consistent with a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.

Abstract

We report an extensive Monte-Carlo study of the melting of the classical two dimensional Wigner crystal for a system of point particles interacting via the $1/r$-Coulomb potential. A hexatic phase is found in systems large enough. With the multiple histograms method and the finite size scaling theory, we show that the fluid/hexatic phase transition is weakly first order. No set of critical exponents, consistent with a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition and the finite size scaling analysis for this transition, have been found.