The two-dimensional XY model at the transition temperature: a high-precision Monte Carlo study

We study the classical XY (plane rotator) model at the Kosterlitz–Thouless phase transition. We simulate the model using the single-cluster algorithm on square lattices of a linear size up to L = 2048. We derive the finite-size behaviour of the second moment correlation length over the lattice size ξ 2nd / L at the transition temperature. This new prediction and the analogous one for the helicity modulus ϒ are confronted with our Monte Carlo data. This way β KT = 1.1199 is confirmed as inverse transition temperature. Finally, we address the puzzle of logarithmic corrections of the magnetic susceptibility χ at the transition temperature.