Dynamics of the 2D two-component plasma near the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamics of a 2D two-component plasma near the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition using two analytical methods and simulations, highlighting their strengths and limitations.

Contribution

It compares an intuitive pair-based approach with a formal Mori projection method to analyze plasma dynamics near the KT transition.

Findings

Both approaches reveal insights into plasma relaxation behavior.

The pair picture works well at certain regimes but has limitations.

The Mori formalism provides a more general framework, with potential for combined methods.

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a classical, two-component plasma in two dimensions, in the vicinity of the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition where the system passes from a dielectric low-temperature phase (consisting of bound pairs) to a conducting phase. We use two ``complementary'' analytical approaches and compare to simulations. The conventional, ``intuitive'' approach is built on the KT picture of independently relaxing, bound pairs. A more formal approach, working with Mori projected dynamic correlation functions, avoids to assume the pair picture from the start. We discuss successes and failures of both approaches, and suggest a way to combine the advantages of both.