Topological order in the vortex-glass phase of high-temperature superconductors

Abstract

The stability of a vortex glass phase with quasi-long-range positional order is examined for a disordered layered superconductor. The role of topological defects is investigated using a scaling argument supplemented by a variational calculation. The results indicate that topological order is preserved for some range of parameters in the vortex glass phase. The stability regime is given in terms of a simple Lindemann-like criterion and is consistent with recent experiments.