Dynamic behavior of vortices in the classical two-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg model

Abstract

We use Monte Carlo and spin-dynamics simulation to study the vortex dynamics in the two-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg model. We calculated the lifetime of vortex-antivortex pairs, the time needed for a vortex to make a jump for one lattice spacing, the vortex density, the distance between pairs as a function of temperature, and the energy of the vortex core. Our results support the idea that a vortex does not move through the lattice for long distances and a creation-annihilation process is a more adequate picture to describe its ``dynamics.''