 Phase stiffness

The phase stiffness is the coefficient of $\frac{1}{2}\int d^{d}x(\nabla \theta {)}^2$ in the long-distance free energy. Its renormalized value determines the thermal phase fluctuations and algebraic correlation function of a two-dimensional O(N) model with $N=2$.

Operationally impose a small phase difference $\varphi$ between opposite sides of a square sample of side $L$. The smooth minimum has $\theta =\varphi x/L$, so the two-dimensional excess free energy isThe derivative concerns a prescribed twist at the stated observation scale; in $d$ dimensions its conventional size factor is $L^{d-2}$. This response definition includes thermal fluctuations and vortices after equilibration, whereas a microscopic gradient coefficient need not. A finite phase stiffness requires no nonzero spatially uniform order parameter; the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition is the instructive example.