Nonequilibrium relaxation analysis of Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition

A simple and efficient numerical analysis is proposed for the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transition. The nonequilibrium relaxation method is applied to it. The two-dimensional ferromagnetic XY models are investigated to show the efficiency. At the KT transition point as well as inside the KT phase, the nonequilibrium relaxation of magnetization from the all-aligned state shows an asymptotic power-law decay, m(t) approximately t(-lambda(T)). Only outside the KT phase, an asymptotic single exponential decay is observed. Using a standard scaling form m(t)=tau(-lambda)(-)m(t/tau) in this regime, where tau is the relaxation time at each temperature, we find a simple and efficient numerical estimation of the KT transition point and dynamical exponent. This method can be applied to various kinds of models which show the KT-like behavior.