[Nordita Program] A family of critical models in d-dimensions

by Simon Banks (University College London)

Monday 22 Feb 2010, 13:15 → 14:15 Europe/Stockholm

Nordita Seminar Room

It is well known that the order parameter for the 2dXY model is zero in the thermodynamic limit, yet it remains measurable even for macroscopic systems. Thus our ability to observe the KT transition via changes in the magnetization is a result of the "confinement" of the system to finite size. We have been working on a family of related models in one and three-dimensions generalizable to d-dimensions) which exhibit behaviour closely analogous to the 2dXY model. We will consider the possibility that confinement in these models may lead to KT type, or possibly other novel, phase transitions.