Thermal properties of gauge-fields common to anyon superconductors and spin-liquids

TL;DR

This paper investigates the thermal behavior of gauge fields in anyon superconductors and spin-liquids, revealing a confinement-deconfinement transition at a critical temperature with specific heat features similar to high-temperature superconductors.

Contribution

It re-examines the confinement-deconfinement transition in lattice quantum electrodynamics for systems with gauge fields common to anyon superconductors and spin-liquids, linking it to superconducting transition temperatures.

Findings

Confinement-deconfinement transition occurs at a temperature $T_c$.

Specific heat shows a smooth peak below $T_c$.

Transition temperature coincides with the critical temperature for anyon superconductivity.

Abstract

The thermally driven confinement-deconfinement transition exhibited by lattice quantum electrodynamics in two space dimensions is re-examined in the context of the statistical gauge-fields common to anyon superconductors and to spin-liquids. Particle-hole excitations in both systems are bound by a confining string at temperatures below the transition temperature $T_c$. We argue that $T_c$ coincides with the actual critical temperature for anyon superconductivity. The corresponding specific-heat contribution, however, shows a {\it smooth} peak just below $T_c$ characteristic of certain high-temperature superconductors.