Integer and fractionalized vortex lattices and off-diagonal long-range order

Abstract

We analyze the implication of off-diagonal long-range order (ODLRO) for inhomogeneous periodic field configurations and multi-component order parameters. For single component order parameters we show that the only static, periodic field configuration consistent with ODLRO is a vortex lattice with integer flux in units of the flux quantum in each unit cell. For a superconductor with $g$ degenerate components, fractional vortices are allowed. Depending on the precise order-parameter manifold, they tend to occur in units of $1/g$ of the flux quantum. These results are well known to emerge from the Ginzburg-Landau or BCS theories of superconductivity. Our results imply that they are valid even if these theories no-longer apply. Integer and fractional vortex lattices are transparently seen to emerge as a consequence of the macroscopic coherence and single valuedness of the condensate.

Accepted to Journal of Physics Communications 8 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Stabilizing fractional vortices in multiband superconductors with periodic pinning arrays
• Fractional vortex lattice structures in spin triplet superconductors
• Fractional-flux vortices and spin superfluidity in triplet superconductors
• Effect of half-quantum vortices on magnetoresistance of perforated superconducting films
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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Charge-4e and charge-6e flux quantization and higher charge superconductivity in kagome superconductor ring devices
• Flux-periodic oscillations in proximitized core-shell nanowires