Observing the origin of superconductivity in quantum critical metals

Abstract

Despite intense efforts during the last 25 years, the physics of unconventional superconductors, including the cuprates with a very high transition temperature, is still a controversial subject. It is believed that superconductivity in many of these strongly correlated metallic systems originates in the physics of quantum phase transitions, but quite diverse perspectives have emerged on the fundamentals of the electron-pairing physics, ranging from Hertz style critical spin fluctuation glue to the holographic superconductivity of string theory. Here we demonstrate that the gross energy scaling differences that are behind these various pairing mechanisms are directly encoded in the frequency and temperature dependence of the dynamical pair susceptibility. This quantity can be measured directly via the second order Josephson effect and it should be possible employing modern experimental techniques to build a `pairing telescope' that gives a direct view on the origin of quantum critical superconductivity.

19 pages, 9 figures; minor changes in the experimental part; added a new appendix section calculating the pair susceptibility of marginal Fermi liquid

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Cited by in corpus (33)

• Holographic quantum matter
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• Cooper pairing of incoherent electrons: an electron-phonon version of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model
• Scaling theory of the cuprate strange metals
• Intertwined order and holography: the case of the parity breaking pair density wave
• How many quantum phase transitions exist inside the superconducting dome of the iron pnictides?
• Pairing Mechanism in Hunds Metal Superconductors and the Universality of the Superconducting Gap to Critical Temperature Ratio
• Towards a Holographic Realization of Homes' Law
• Superconducting specific heat jump $\Delta C_{\mathrm{el}}\propto T_c^{\beta }(\beta \approx 2)$ for K${}_{1-x}$Na${}_x$Fe${}_2$As${}_2$
• Quantum critical Eliashberg theory, the SYK superconductor and their holographic duals
• Fluctuations in finite density holographic quantum liquids
• Non-Fermi liquid at the FFLO quantum critical point
• Motion of a superfluid vortex according to holographic quantum dissipation
• An Introduction to Gauge Gravity Duality and Its Application in Condensed Matter
• Collective dynamics and the Anderson-Higgs mechanism in a bona fide holographic superconductor
• Superconductivity from Luttinger surfaces: Emergent $\infty$-body SYK physics
• Phase relaxation and pattern formation in holographic gapless charge density waves
• The spectral weight of hole doped cuprates across the pseudogap critical point
• Universal scaling behavior of the upper critical field in strained FeSe0.7Te0.3 thin films
• Doping evolution of antiferromagnetism and transport properties in the non-superconducting BaFe2-2xNixCrxAs2
• Dynamical stability from quasi normal modes in 2nd, 1st and 0th order holographic superfluid phase transitions
• Robustness of quantum critical pairing against disorder
• Observing various phase transitions in the holographic model of superfluidity
• Order parameter fluctuations in the holographic superconductor
• Observing the inhomogeneity in the holographic models of superconductors
• Superconductivity at an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point: the role of energy fluctuations
• Precursory Cooper Flow in Ultralow-Temperature Superconductors
• Thoughts about boosting superconductivity
• Holographic superconductivity in the presence of dark matter: basic issues
• Black hole singularities across phase transitions
• BCS instabilities of electron stars to holographic superconductors
• Incoherent pair tunneling in the pseudogap phase of cuprates
• Strange Metals from Quantum Geometric Fluctuations of Interfaces