  We show, by using a correlated Jastrow wave function and a mapping onto a
classical model, that the two-dimensional Mott transition in a simple
half-filled one-band model can be unconventional and very similar to the
binding-unbinding Kosterlitz-Thouless transition of vortices and anti-vortices,
here identified by empty and doubly occupied sites. Within this framework,
electrons strongly interact with collective plasmon excitations that induce
anomalous critical properties on both sides of the transition. In particular,
the insulating phase is characterized by a singular power law behavior in the
photoemission spectrum, that can be continuously connected to the
fully-projected insulating state, relevant to strongly correlated low-energy
models.
