A Zero-Temperature Study of Vortex Mobility in Two-Dimensional Vortex Glass Models

Three different vortex glass models are studied by examining the energy barrier against vortex motion across the system. In the two-dimensional gauge glass this energy barrier is found to increase logarithmically with system size which is interpreted as evidence for a low-temperature phase with zero resistivity. Associated with the large energy barriers is a breaking of ergodicity which explains why the well established results from equilibrium studies could fail. The behavior of the more realistic random pinning model is however different with decreasing energy barriers a no finite critical temperature.