We study topological aspects of a compact lattice superconductor, and show that the characteristic energy splitting, Δ, between almost degenerate ground states, is simply related to a novel order parameter W~, which is closely related to large Wilson loops. Using Monte Carlo methods, we study the scaling properties of W~ close to the deconfining phase transition, and conclude that Δ∼e−L/ξ, where L is the size of the system, thus giving quantitative support to the vortex tunneling scenario proposed by Wen.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0402566,
title = {Topological Order in the (2+1)D Compact Lattice Superconductor},
author = {Anders Vestergren and Jack Lidmar and T. H. Hansson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0402566},
year = {2007}
}