  The guiding conception of vortex-condensation-driven Mott insulating behavior
is central to the theory of the nodal liquid. We amplify our earlier
description of this idea and show how vortex condensation in 2D electronic
systems is a natural extension of 1D Mott insulating and 2D bosonic Mott
insulating behavior. For vortices in an underlying superconducting pair field,
there is an important distinction between the condensation of flux hc/2e and
flux hc/e vortices. The former case leads to spin-charge confinement,
exemplified by the band insulator and the charge-density-wave. In the latter
case, spin and charge are liberated leading directly to a 2D Mott insulator
exhibiting *spin-charge separation*. Possible upshots include not only the
nodal liquid, but also a novel undoped antiferromagnetic insulating phase with
gapped excitations exhibiting spin-charge separation.
