Coexistence of itinerant ferromagnetism and a non-unitary superconducting state with line nodes: possible application to UGe${}_2$

Abstract

We construct a mean-field theory for itinerant ferromagnetism coexisting with a non-unitary superconducting state, where only the majority-spin band is gapped and contains line nodes, while the minority-spin band is gapless at the Fermi level. Our study is motivated by recent experimental results indicating that this may be the physical situation realized in the heavy-fermion compound UGe${}_2$. We investigate the stability of the mean-field solution of the magnetic and superconducting order parameters. Also, we provide theoretical predictions for experimentally measurable properties of such a non-unitary superconductor: the specific heat capacity, the Knight shift, and the tunneling conductance spectra. Our study should be useful for direct comparison with experimental results and also for further predictions of the physics that may be expected in ferromagnetic superconductors.

12 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Properties of Ferromagnetic Superconductors
• Microscopic origin of ultranodal superconducting states in spin-1/2 systems
• Density of states near a vortex core in ferromagnetic superconductors: Application to STM measurements