Long-range translational order is forbidden in low dimensional systems
with short-range interactions: solid phases only have quasi long-range
translational order. A mechanism for the transition from solid to liquid
led by the dissociation of dislocation pairs was proposed by Kosterlitz &
Thouless in their 1972 & 1973 Nobel prize papers. Knowing that long-range
orientational order is possible in two dimensions, Nelson, Halperin and
Young argued that the transition actually occurs in two steps, the second
one being triggered by the unbinding of disclinations. In this picture
the intermediate phase keeps quasi long-range orientational order, and the
two transitions are of infinite order. Based on simulations of hard disks
performed with advanced numerical methods, the latter picture was recently
questioned. In this talk I will review the current understanding of
melting in two dimensions and I will extend its analysis to systems made
of self-propelled particles, the constituents of active matter, a new kind
of soft matter relevant to describe numerous biological problems.
A detailed description of this problem can be found in
Phases of planar active matter,
L. F. Cugliandolo and G. Gonnella,
Les Houches Lecture Notes (Oxford University Press) arXiv:1810.11833
See also
"Full Phase Diagram of Active Brownian disks: from melting to
motility-induced phase separation", P. Digregorio et al. Phys. Rev. Lett.
121, 098003 (2018).