Phase vortices in charge-density-wave conductors

We study theoretically the thermodynamics as well as the transport properties of charge-density waves in the presence of phase vortices. We find that the phase vortices give rise to a T-linear term in the specific heat for T not too small (T>Δ²/EF where {Δ} is the quasiparticle energy gap and EF is the Fermi energy). Furthermore, vortices contribute to the sound attenuation and more significantly to the microwave absorption.