Compact U(1) gauge theories in 2+1 dimensions and the physics of low dimensional insulating materials

Abstract

Compact abelian gauge theories in $d=2+1$ dimensions arise often as an effective field-theoretic description of models of quantum insulators. In this paper we review some recent results about the compact abelian Higgs model in $d=2+1$ in that context.

Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures; based on talk by F.S. Nogueira in the Aachen HEP2003 conference