CHAIN ORDERING IN MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS AND KINETICS

The molecular dynamics method is used to study ordering processes in a two-component two-dimensional Coulomb gas consisting of equal numbers of positively and negatively charged particles, a gas that models the behavior of a system of interacting vortices. It is found that as the system temperature decreases, starting from the well-known Kosterlitz -Thouless transition point the system exhibits additional vortex-chain ordering. This process is found to stimulate the production of vortex chains, which can be observed in real superfluids, magnetic materials , and superconducting systems. The results are compared with those obt ained by modeling the kinetics in similar systems via the time-depende nt continuum Heisenberg-Landau model. (C) 1997 American Institute of P hysics.