 Vortex Coulomb gas

In two dimensions, the integer defects $q_x$ on dual faces are vortices of winding $2\pi q_x$. Here $G$ is the inverse positive lattice Laplacian with its boundary or zero-mode convention specified. At separations large compared with the lattice spacing, $G(r)=-(2\pi {)}^{-1}\log (r/a)+\text{constant}$, yielding the pair action $-2\pi \beta {\sum }_{i<j}{q}_i{q}_j\log (r_{ij}/a)$ and core self-energies. Like charges repel and opposite charges attract. With periodic boundaries the total charge is zero and the inverse is taken on the mean-zero subspace; harmonic winding sectors require their own factors.