Phase structure of Abelian Chern-Simons gauge theories

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We study the effect of a Chern-Simons (CS) term in the phase structure of two different Abelian gauge theories. For the compact Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory, we obtain that for values g=n/2π of the CS coupling with n=± 1,± 2, the theory is equivalent to a gas of closed loops with contact interaction, exhibiting a phase transition in the 3dXY universality class. We also employ Monte Carlo simulations to study the noncompact U(1) Abelian Higgs model with a CS term. Finite size scaling of the third moment of the action yields critical exponents α and ν that vary continuously with the strength of the CS term, and a comparison with available analytical results is made.