Deconfinement and dissipation in quantum Hall Josephson tunneling

The zero-bias tunneling resonance in quantum Hall bilayer systems is investigated via numerical simulations of the classical two-dimensional XY model with a symmetry-breaking field. Disorder is included in the model and is shown to nucleate strings of overturned spins proliferated through the system, with unpaired vortices and antivortices at their end points. This string glass state supports low-energy excitations which lead to anomalously large dissipation in tunneling, as observed in experiment. The effect of an in-plane magnetic field is discussed.