Phase Transition in the Two-Dimensional Gauge Glass

TL;DR

This paper investigates the two-dimensional XY gauge glass model, providing numerical evidence for a finite-temperature glass transition of a novel type in disordered superconducting systems.

Contribution

It offers the first extensive numerical analysis indicating a finite-temperature transition in the 2D gauge glass, suggesting a new kind of glass transition in disordered superconductors.

Findings

Evidence for a finite-temperature glass transition

Finite-size scaling supports transition hypothesis

Novel transition type inferred from data

Abstract

The two-dimensional XY gauge glass, which describes disordered superconducting grains in strong magnetic fields, is investigated, with regard to the possibility of a glass transition. We compute the glass susceptibility and the correlation function of the system via extensive numerical simulations and perform the finite-size scaling analysis. This gives strong evidence for a finite-temperature transition, which is expected to be of a novel type.