We present a numerical study of the effect of the repulsive logarithmic inter-particle interaction on the ground state configuration and the frequency spectrum of a confined classical two-dimensional cluster containing a finite number of particles. In the case of a hard wall confinement all particles form one ring situated at the boundary of the potential. For a general $r^n$ confinement potential, also inner rings can form and we find that all frequencies lie below the frequency of a particular mode, namely the breathing-like mode. An interesting situation arises for the parabolic confined system (i.e., $n=2$). In this case the frequency of the breathing mode is independent of the number of particles leading to an upper bound for all frequencies. All results can be understood from Earnshaw’s theorem in two dimensions. In order to check the sensitivity of these results, the spectrum of vortices in a type II superconductor which, in the limit of large penetration depths, interact through a logarithmic potential, is investigated.

• Received 14 January 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.69.245415