No Arabic abstract
Large Hubbard U limit of the Kane-Mele model on a zigzag ribbon of honeycomb lattice near half-filling is studied via a renormalized mean-field theory. The ground state exhibits time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking d + i d-wave superconductivity. At large spin-orbit coupling, the Z2 phase with non-trivial spin Chern number in the pure Kane-Mele model is persistent into the TRS broken state (called spin-Chern phase), and has two pairs of counter-propagating helical Majorana modes at the edges. As the spin-orbit coupling is reduced, the system undergoes a topological quantum phase transition from the spin-Chern to chiral superconducting states. Possible relevance of our results to adatom-doped graphene and irridate compounds is discussed.
Motivated by the recent observation of superconductivity in strontium doped NdNiO$_2$, we study the superconducting instabilities in this system from various vantage points. Starting with first-principles calculations, we construct two distinct tight-binding models, a simpler single-orbital as well as a three-orbital model, both of which capture the key low energy degrees of freedom to varying degree of accuracy. We study superconductivity in both models using the random phase approximation (RPA). We then analyze the problem at stronger coupling, and study the dominant pairing instability in the associated t-J model limit. In all instances, the dominant pairing tendency is in the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ channel, analogous to the cuprate superconductors.
We consider the lifetime of quasi-particles in a d-wave superconductor due to scattering from antiferromagnetic spin-fluctuations, and explicitly separate the contribution from Umklapp processes which determines the electrical conductivity. Results for the temperature dependence of the total scattering rate and the Umklapp scattering rate are compared with relaxation rates obtained from thermal and microwave conductivity measurements, respectively.
Low energy polarized electronic Raman scattering of the electron doped superconductor Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4 (T_c=22 K) has revealed a nonmonotonic d_{x^2-y^2} superconducting order parameter. It has a maximum gap of 4.4 k_BT_c at Fermi surface intersections with antiferromagnetic Brillouin zone (the ``hot spots) and a smaller gap of 3.3 k_BT_c at fermionic Brillouin zone boundaries. The gap enhancement in the vicinity of the ``hot spots emphasizes role of antiferromagnetic fluctuations and similarity in the origin of superconductivity for electron- and hole-doped cuprates.
Many cuprate superconductors possess an unusual charge-ordered phase that is characterized by an approximate $d_{x^2-y^2}$ intra-unit cell form factor and a finite modulation wavevector $bq^ast$. We study the effects impurities on this charge ordered phase via a single-band model in which bond order is the analogue of charge order in the cuprates. Impurities are assumed to be pointlike and are treated within the self-consistent t-matrix approximation (SCTMA). We show that suppression of bond order by impurities occurs through the local disruption of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ form factor near individual impurities. Unlike $d$-wave superconductors, where the sensitivity of $T_c$ to impurities can be traced to a vanishing average of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ order parameter over the Fermi surface, the response of bond order to impurities is dictated by a few Fermi surface hotspots. The bond order transition temperature $T_mathrm{bo}$ thus follows a different universal dependence on impurity concentration $n_i$ than does the superconducting $T_c$. In particular, $T_mathrm{bo}$ decreases more rapidly than $T_c$ with increasing $n_i$ when there is a nonzero Fermi surface curvature at the hotspots. Based on experimental evidence that the pseudogap is insensitive to Zn doping, we conclude that a direct connection between charge order and the pseudogap is unlikely. Furthermore, the enhancement of stripe correlations in the La-based cuprates by Zn doping is evidence that this charge order is also distinct from stripes.
Recent advances in the development of Josephson scanning tunneling spectroscopy (JSTS) have opened a new path for the exploration of unconventional superconductors. We demonstrate that the critical current, $I_c$, measured via JSTS, images the spatial form of the superconducting order parameter in $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductors around defects and in the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state. Moreover, we show that $I_c$ probes the existence of phase-incoherent superconducting correlations in the pseudo-gap region of the cuprate superconductors, thus providing unprecedented insight into its elusive nature. These results provide the missing theoretical link between the experimentally measured $I_c$, and the spatial structure of the superconducting order parameter.