Theory of the striped superconductor

Abstract

We define a distinct phase of matter, a "pair density wave" (PDW), in which the superconducting order parameter $\varphi$ varies periodically as a function of position such that when averaged over the center of mass position, all components of $\varphi$ vanish identically. Specifically, we study the simplest, unidirectional PDW, the "striped superconductor," which we argue may be at the heart of a number of spectacular experimental anomalies that have been observed in the failed high temperature superconductor, La${}_{2-x}$ Ba${}_x$CuO${}_4$. We present a solvable microscopic model with strong electron-electron interactions which supports a PDW groundstate. We also discuss, at the level of Landau theory, the nature of the coupling between the PDW and other order parameters, and the origins and some consequences of the unusual sensitivity of this state to quenched disorder.

16 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; Journal ref. added

References in corpus (14)

• Electron pockets in the Fermi surface of hole-doped high-Tc superconductors
• Supercurrent reversal in quantum dots
• Two-Dimensional Superconducting Fluctuations in Stripe-Ordered La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO(4)
• Dynamical layer decoupling in a stripe-ordered, high T_c superconductor
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• The Ground State of the Pseudogap in Cuprate Superconductors
• Dislocations and vortices in pair density wave superconductors
• Evidence for unusual superconducting correlations coexisting with stripe order in La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO(4)
• Putting competing orders in their place near the Mott transition
• Theory of quantum metal to superconductor transitions in highly conducting systems
• Unidirectional d-wave superconducting domains in the two-dimensional t-J model
• Stability of nodal quasi-particles in superconductors with coexisting orders
• Incommmensurability and unconventional superconductor to insulator transition in the Hubbard model with bond-charge interaction
• Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov State in the absence of a Magnetic Field

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Lattice symmetry breaking in cuprate superconductors: Stripes, nematics, and superconductivity
• Striped superconductors: How the cuprates intertwine spin, charge and superconducting orders
• Charge $4e$ superconductivity from pair density wave order in certain high temperature superconductors
• Exotic paired states with anisotropic spin-dependent Fermi surfaces
• Inter-layer Josephson coupling in stripe-ordered superconducting cuprates