No Arabic abstract
The key to unraveling the nature of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) lies in resolving the enigma of the pseudogap state. The pseudogap state in the underdoped region is a distinct thermodynamic phase characterized by nematicity, temperature-quadratic resistive behavior, and magnetoelectric effects. Till present, a general description of the observed universal features of the pseudogap phase and their connection with HTS was lacking. The proposed work constructs a unifying effective field theory capturing all universal characteristics of HTS materials and explaining the observed phase diagram. The pseudogap state is established to be a phase where a charged magnetic monopole condensate confines Cooper pairs to form an oblique version of a superinsulator. The HTS phase diagram is dominated by a tricritical point (TCP) at which the first order transition between a fundamental Cooper pair condensate and a charged magnetic monopole condensate merges with the continuous superconductor-normal metal and superconductor-pseudogap state phase transitions. The universality of the HTS phase diagram reflects a unique topological mechanism of competition between the magnetic monopole condensate, inherent to antiferromagnetic-order-induced Mott insulators and the Cooper pair condensate. The obtained results establish the topological nature of the HTS and provide a platform for devising materials with the enhanced superconducting transition temperature.
A great variety of novel phenomena occur when two-dimensional materials, such as graphene or transition metal dichalcogenides, are assembled into bilayers with a twist between individual layers. As a new application of this paradigm, we consider structures composed of two monolayer-thin $d$-wave superconductors with a twist angle $theta$ that can be realized by mechanically exfoliating van der Waals-bonded high-$T_c$ copper oxide materials, such as Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+delta}$. On the basis of symmetry arguments and detailed microscopic modelling, we predict that for a range of twist angles in the vicinity of $45^{rm o}$, such bilayers form a robust, fully gapped topological phase with spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry and protected chiral Majorana edge modes. When $thetaapprox 45^{rm o}$, the topological phase sets in at temperatures close to the bulk $T_csimeq 90$ K, thus furnishing a long sought realization of a true high-temperature topological superconductor.
Soon after the discovery of the first high temperature superconductor by Georg Bednorz and Alex Mueller in 1986 the late Sir Nevill Mott answering his own question Is there an explanation? [Nature v 327 (1987) 185] expressed a view that the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of small bipolarons, predicted by us in 1981, could be the one. Several authors then contemplated BEC of real space tightly bound pairs, but with a purely electronic mechanism of pairing rather than with the electron-phonon interaction (EPI). However, a number of other researchers criticized the bipolaron (or any real-space pairing) scenario as incompatible with some angle-resolved photoemission spectra (ARPES), with experimentally determined effective masses of carriers and unconventional symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in cuprates. Since then the controversial issue of whether the electron-phonon interaction (EPI) is crucial for high-temperature superconductivity or weak and inessential has been one of the most challenging problems of contemporary condensed matter physics. Here I outline some developments in the bipolaron theory suggesting that the true origin of high-temperature superconductivity is found in a proper combination of strong electron-electron correlations with a significant finite-range (Froehlich) EPI, and that the theory is fully compatible with the key experiments.
Subsequent to our recent report of SDW type transition at 190 K and antiferromagnetic order below 20 K in EuFe2As2, we have studied the effect of K-doping on the SDW transition at high temperature and AF order at low temperature. 50% K doping suppresses the SDW transition and in turn gives rise to high-temperature superconductivity below T_c = 32 K, as observed in the electrical resistivity, AC susceptibility as well as magnetization. A well defined anomaly in the specific heat provides additional evidence for bulk superconductivity.
Superconductivity in organic conductors is often tuned by the application of chemical or external pressure. With this type of tuning, orbital overlaps and electronic bandwidths are manipulated, whilst the properties of the molecular building blocks remain virtually unperturbed.Here, we show that the excitation of local molecular vibrations in the charge-transfer salt $kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_2Cu[N(CN)_2]Br$ induces a colossal increase in carrier mobility and the opening of a superconducting-like optical gap. Both features track the density of quasi-particles of the equilibrium metal, and can be achieved up to a characteristic coherence temperature $T^* approxeq 50 K$, far higher than the equilibrium transition temperature $T_C = 12.5 K$. Notably, the large optical gap achieved by photo-excitation is not observed in the equilibrium superconductor, pointing to a light induced state that is different from that obtained by cooling. First-principle calculations and model Hamiltonian dynamics predict a transient state with long-range pairing correlations, providing a possible physical scenario for photo-molecular superconductivity.
It has been shown that superconducting vortices with antiferromagnetic cores arise within Zhangs SO(5) model of high temperature supercondictivity. Similar phenomena where the symmetry is not restored in the core of the vortex was discussed by Witten in the case of cosmic strings. It was also suggested that such strings can form stable vortons, which are closed loops of such vortices. Motivated by this analogy, in following we will show that loops of such vortices in the SO(5) model of high T_c superconductivity can exist as classically stable objects, stabilized by the presence of conserved charges trapped on the vortex core. These objects carry angular momentum which counteracts the effect of the string tension that causes the loops to shrink. The existence of such quasiparticles, which are called vortons, could be interesting for the physics of high temperature superconductors. We also speculate that the phase transition between superconducting and antiferromagnetic phases at zero external magnetic field when the doping parameter changes is associated with vortons.