arXiv subjects

Jörg Schmalian

Publications and source records attributed to Jörg Schmalian.

117 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Transfer of optical spectral weight in magnetically ordered superconductors

We show that, in antiferromagnetic superconductors, the optical spectral weight transferred to low frequencies below the superconducting transition temperature originates from energies that can be much larger than twice the superconducting gap $Δ$. This contrasts to non-magnetic superconductors, where the optical spectrum is suppressed only for frequencies below $2Δ$. In particular, we demonstrate that the superfluid condensate of the magnetically ordered superconductor is not only due to states of the magnetically reconstructed Fermi surface, but is enhanced by transfer of spectral weight from the mid infrared peak generated by the spin density wave gap. We apply our results to the iron arsenide superconductors, addressing the decrease of the zero-temperature superfluid density in the doping regime where magnetism coexists with unconventional superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Competing order and nature of the pairing state in the iron pnictides

We show that the competition between magnetism and superconductivity can be used to determine the pairing state in the iron arsenides. To this end we demonstrate that the itinerant antiferromagnetic phase (AFM) and the unconventional $s^{+-}$ sign-changing superconducting state (SC) are near the borderline of microscopic coexistence and macroscopic phase separation, explaining the experimentally observed competition of both ordered states. In contrast, conventional $s^{++}$ pairing is not able to coexist with magnetism. Expanding the microscopic free energy of the system with competing orders around the multicritical point, we find that static magnetism plays the role of an intrinsic interband Josephson coupling, making the phase diagram sensitive to the symmetry of the Cooper pair wavefunction. We relate this result to the quasiparticle excitation spectrum and to the emergent SO$(5)$ symmetry of systems with particle-hole symmetry. Our results rely on the assumption that the same electrons that form the ordered moment contribute to the superconducting condensate and that the system is close to particle-hole symmetry. We also compare the suppression of SC in different regions of the FeAs phase diagram, showing that while in the underdoped side it is due to the competition with AFM, in the overdoped side it is related to the disappearance of pockets from the Fermi surface.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Interface energy of two band superconductors

Using the Ginzburg-Landau theory for two-band superconductors, we determine the surface energy, sigma_s, between coexisting normal and superconducting states at the thermodynamic critical magnetic field. Close to the transition temperature, where the Ginzburg-Landau theory is applicable, we demonstrate that the two-band problem maps onto an effective single band problem. While the order parameters of the two bands may have different amplitudes in the homogeneous bulk, near the critical temperature the Josephson-like coupling between the bands leads to the same spatial dependence of both order parameters near the interface. This finding puts into question the possibility of intermediate, so called type-1.5 superconductivity, in the regime where the Ginzburg-Landau theory applies.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Conductivity of electronic liquid-crystalline mesophases

We investigate the connection between the transport properties and the thermodynamics of electronic systems with a tendency to form broken-symmetry mesophases evocative of the physics of liquid crystals. Through a hydrodynamic approach to the electronic transport in inhomogeneous systems, we develop a perturbative expansion for the macroscopic conductivity to study the transport of two-dimensional smectic and nematic phases. At the fluctuation induced first order phase transition expected for the smectic to isotropic transition, a jump in the macroscopic conductivity is predicted, with a directional dependence that reflects the fluctuation spectrum of the order parameter. When elastic fluctuation modes melt the smectic phase into a nematic phase, the resultant nematic order parameter is shown to be linearly proportional to the conductivity anisotropy. We also outline qualitative comparisons with recent experimental works on strongly correlated materials that show evidences of electronic liquid-crystalline mesophases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Glassy behavior in systems with Kac-type step-function interaction

We study a system with a weak, long-range repulsive Kac-type step-function interaction within the framework of a replicated effective $ϕ^4$-theory. The occurrence of extensive configurational entropy, or an exponentially large number of metastable minima in the free energy (characteristic of a glassy state), is demonstrated. The underlying mechanism of mesoscopic patterning and defect organizations is discussed.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Singularities in the optical response of cuprates

We argue that the detailed analysis of the optical response in cuprate superconductors allows one to verify the magnetic scenario of superconductivity in cuprates, as for strong coupling charge carriers to antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations, the second derivative of optical conductivity should contain detectable singularities at $2Δ+Δ_{\rm spin}$, $4Δ$, and $2Δ+2Δ_{\rm spin}$, where $Δ$ is the amplitude of the superconducting gap, and $Δ_{s}$ is the resonance energy of spin fluctuations measured in neutron scattering. We argue that there is a good chance that these singularities have already been detected in the experiments on optimally doped $YBCO$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Quantum-critical superconductivity in underdoped cuprates

We argue that the pseudogap phase may be an attribute of the non-BCS pairing of quantum-critical, diffusive fermions near the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. We derive and solve a set of three coupled Eliashberg-type equations for spin-mediated pairing and show that in some $T$ range below the pairing instability, there is no feedback from superconductivity on fermionic excitations, and fermions remain diffusive despite of the pairing. We conject that in this regime, fluctuations of the pairing gap destroy the superconducting condensate but preserve the leading edge gap in the fermionic spectral function.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Fingerprints of spin-fermion pairing in cuprates

We demonstrate that the feedback effect from bosonic excitations on fermions, which in the past allowed one to verify the phononic mechanism of a conventional, $s-$wave superconductivity, may also allow one to experimentally detect the ``fingerprints'' of the pairing mechanism in cuprates. We argue that for spin-mediated $d-$wave superconductivity, the fermionic spectral function, the density of states, the tunneling conductance through an insulating junction, and the optical conductivity are affected by the interaction with collective spin excitations, which below $T_c$ are propagating, magnon-like quasiparticles with gap $Δ_s$. We show that the interaction with a propagating spin excitation gives rise to singularities at frequencies $Δ+ Δ_s$ for the spectral function and the density of states, and at $2Δ+ Δ_s$ for tunneling and optical conductivities, where $Δ$ is the maximum value of the $d-$wave gap. We further argue that recent optical measurements also allow one to detect subleading singularities at $4Δ$ and $2Δ+ 2Δ_s$. We consider the experimental detection of these singularities as a strong evidence in favor of the magnetic scenario for superconductivity in cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Spin and charge inhomogeneities in high-T_c cuprates: Evidence from NMR and neutron scattering experiments

In this communication we consider the doping dependence of the strong antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the cuprate superconductors. We investigate the effect of an incommensurate magnetic response, as recently observed in inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments on several YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+x} compounds, on the spin-lattice and spin-echo relaxation rates measured in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. We conclude that a consistent theoretical description of INS and NMR can be reached if one assumes spatially inhomogeneous but locally commensurate spin correlations and that NMR and INS experiments can be described within a single theoretical scenario. We discuss a simple scenario of spin and charge inhomogeneities which includes the main physical ingredients required for consistency with experiments.

cond-mat.supr-con↗