An elementary proof of phase transition in the planar XY model

Abstract: Using elementary methods we obtain a power-law lower bound on the two-point function of the planar XY spin model at low temperatures. This was famously first rigorously obtained by Fr\"{o}hlich and Spencer and establishes a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition in the model. Our argument relies on a new loop representation of spin correlations, a recent result of Lammers on delocalisation of integer-valued height functions, and classical correlation inequalities.