An alternative field theory for the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition

Abstract

We extend a Gaussian model for the internal electrical potential of a two-dimensional Coulomb gas by a non-Gaussian measure term, which singles out the physically relevant configurations of the potential. The resulting Hamiltonian, expressed as a functional of the internal potential, has a surprising large-scale limit: The additional term simply counts the number of maxima and minima of the potential. The model allows for a transparent derivation of the divergence of the correlation length upon lowering the temperature down to the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition point.