Field- and temperature induced topological phase transitions in the three-dimensional $N$-component London superconductor

Abstract

The phase diagram and critical properties of the $N$-component London superconductor are studied both analytically and through large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations in $d=2+1$ dimensions (components here refer to different replicas of the complex scalar field). Examples are given of physical systems to which this model is applicable. The model with different bare phase stiffnesses for each component, is a model of superconductivity which should arise out of metallic phases of light atoms under extreme pressure. A projected mixture of electronic and protonic condensates in liquid metallic hydrogen under extreme pressure is the simplest example, corresponding to N=2. These are such that Josephson coupling between different matter field components {\it is precisely zero on symmetry grounds}. The $N$-component London model is dualized to a theory involving $N$ vortex fields with highly nontrivial interactions. We compute critical exponents $\alpha$ and $\nu$ for N=2 and N=3. Direct and dual gauge field correlators for general $N$ are given and the N=2 case is studied in detail. The model with N=2 shows two anomalies in the specific heat when the bare phase stiffnesses of each matter field species are different. One anomaly corresponds to an {\it inverted} \xy fixed point, while the other corresponds to a \xy fixed point. Correspondingly, for N=3, we demonstrate the existence of two neutral \xy fixed points and one inverted charged \xy fixed point.

46 pages, 34 figures, 3 tables. Two new figures (figures 21 and 22). References added and updated. To be published in Physical Review B

References in corpus (7)

• "Deconfined" quantum critical points
• Quantum criticality beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm
• A superconductor to superfluid phase transition in liquid metallic hydrogen
• Vortex sub-lattice melting in a two-component superconductor
• Dissociation of vortex stacks into fractional-flux vortices
• Critical properties of the N-color London model
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• Observation of a metallic superfluid in a numerical experiment
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• Vortex matter and generalizations of dipolar superfluidity concept in layered systems
• An Abelian two-Higgs model of strongly correlated electrons: phase structure, strengthening of phase transition and QCD at finite density
• Wilson Loops in Non-Compact U(1) Gauge Theories at Criticality