arXiv subjects

Jonatan Wårdh

Publications and source records attributed to Jonatan Wårdh.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Nematic single-component superconductivity and loop-current order from pair-density wave instability

We investigate the nematic and loop-current type orders that may arise as vestigial precursor phases in a model with an underlying pair-density wave (PDW) instability. We discuss how such a vestigial phase gives rise to a highly anisotropic stiffness for a coexisting single-component superconductor with low intrinsic stiffness, as is the case for the underdoped cuprate superconductors. Next, focusing on a regime with a mean-field PDW ground state with loop-current and nematic $xy$ (B$_{2g}$) order, we find a preemptive transition into a low and high-temperature vestigial phase with loop-current and nematic order corresponding to $xy$ (B$_{2g}$) and $x^2-y^2$ (B$_{1g}$) symmetry respectively. Near the transition between the two phases, a state of soft nematic order emerges for which we expect that the nematic director is readily pinned away from the high-symmetry directions in the presence of an external field. Results are discussed in relation to findings in the cuprates, especially to the recently inferred highly anisotropic superconducting fluctuations [Wårdh {\em et al.}, ``Colossal transverse magnetoresistance due to nematic superconducting phase fluctuations in a copper oxide'', arXiv:2203.06769], giving additional evidence for an underlying ubiquitous PDW instability in these materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Colossal transverse magnetoresistance due to nematic superconducting phase fluctuations in a copper oxide

Electronic anisotropy (or `nematicity') has been detected in all main families of cuprate superconductors by a range of experimental techniques -- electronic Raman scattering, THz dichroism, thermal conductivity, torque magnetometry, second-harmonic generation -- and was directly visualized by scanning tunneling microscope (STM) spectroscopy. Using angle-resolved transverse resistance (ARTR) measurements, a very sensitive and background-free technique that can detect 0.5$\%$ anisotropy in transport, we have observed it also in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ (LSCO) for $0.02 \leq x \leq 0.25$. Arguably the key enigma in LSCO is the rotation of the nematic director with temperature; this has not been seen before in any material. Here, we address this puzzle by measuring the angle-resolved transverse magnetoresistance (ARTMR) in LSCO. We report a discovery of colossal transverse magnetoresistance (CTMR) -- an order-of-magnitude drop in the transverse resistivity in the magnetic field of $6\,$T, while none is seen in the longitudinal resistivity. We show that the apparent rotation of the nematic director is caused by superconducting phase fluctuations, which are much more anisotropic than the normal-electron fluid, and their respective directors are not parallel. This qualitative conclusion is robust and follows straight from the raw experimental data. We quantify this by modelling the measured (magneto-)conductivity by a sum of two conducting channels that correspond to distinct anisotropic Drude and Cooper-pair effective mass tensors. Strikingly, the anisotropy of Cooper-pair stiffness is significantly larger than that of the normal electrons, and it grows dramatically on the underdoped side, where the fluctuations become effectively quasi-one dimensional.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Suppression of superfluid stiffness near Lifshitz-point instability to finite momentum superconductivity

We derive the effective Ginzburg-Landau theory for finite momentum (FFLO/PDW) superconductivity without spin population imbalance from a model with local attraction and repulsive pair-hopping. We find that the GL free energy must include up to sixth order derivatives of the order parameter, providing a unified description of the interdependency of zero and finite momentum superconductivity. For weak pair-hopping the phase diagram contains a line of Lifshitz points where vanishing superfluid stiffness induces a continuous change to a long wavelength Fulde-Ferrell (FF) state. For larger pair-hopping there is a bicritical region where the pair-momentum changes discontinuously. Here the FF type state is near degenerate with the Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) or Pair-Density-wave (PDW) type state. At the intersection of these two regimes there is a "Super-Lifshitz" point with extra soft fluctuations. The instability to finite momentum superconductivity occurs for arbitrarily weak pair-hopping for sufficiently large attraction suggesting that even a small repulsive pair-hopping may be significant in a microscopic model of strongly correlated superconductivity. Several generic features of the model may have bearing on the cuprate superconductors, including the suppression of superfluid stiffness in proximity to a Lifshitz point as well as the existence of subleading FFLO order (or vice versa) in the bicritical regime.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Effective model for a supercurrent in a pair-density wave

We extend the standard effective model of d-wave superconductivity of a single band tight-binding Hamiltonian with nearest-neighbor attraction to include finite range periodically modulated pair-hopping. The pair-hopping is characterized by a fixed wave number $\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}=\mathcal{Q}\hat{x}$ breaking lattice rotational symmetry. Within self-consistent BCS theory we study the general variational state consisting of two incommensurate singlet pair amplitudes $Δ_{{\bf Q}_1}$ and $Δ_{{\bf Q}_2}$ and find two types of near degenerate ground states; of the Larkin-Ovchnnikov (LO) or pair-density wave (PDW) type with $Δ_{{\bf Q}_1}=Δ_{{\bf Q}_2}$ and ${\bf Q}_1=-{\bf Q}_2\approx \mathcal{Q}$ or of the Fulde-Ferrell (FF) type with $Δ_{{\bf Q}_2}=0$ and ${\bf Q}_1\approx \pm \mathcal{Q}$. An anomalous term in the static current operator arising from the pair-hopping ensures that Bloch's theorem on zero current in the ground state is enforced also for the FF ground state, despite broken time-reversal symmetry without spin-population imbalance. We also consider a supercurrent by exploring the space of pair-momenta ${\bf Q}_1$ and ${\bf Q}_2$ and identify characteristics of a state with multiple finite momentum order-parameters. This includes the possibility of phase-separation of current densities and spontaneous mirror-symmetry breaking manifested in the directional dependence of the depairing current.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Pair production from residues of complex worldline instantons

We study nonperturbative pair production in electric fields with lightlike inhomogeneities, using complex worldline instantons. We show that the instanton contribution to the pair production probability is a complex contour integral over the instanton itself, and that pair production in the considered fields can be recast in terms of Cauchy's residue theorem. The instantons contribute residues from the poles they circulate (i.e. give local contributions), and the invariance of complex integrals under contour deformation manifests in the instanton contributions as invariance under a set of generalised, complex, reparameterisations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Nonperturbative pair production in interpolating fields

We compare the effects of timelike, lightlike and spacelike one-dimensional inhomogeneities on the probability of nonperturbative pair production in strong fields. Using interpolating coordinates we give a unifying picture in which the effect of the inhomogeneity is encoded in branch cuts and poles circulated by complex worldline instantons. For spacelike inhomogeneities the length of the cut is related to the existence of critical points, while for lightlike inhomogeneities the cut contracts to a pole and the instantons become contractable to points, leading to simplifications particular to the lightlike case. We calculate the effective action in fields with up to three nonzero components, and investigate its behaviour under changes in field dependence.

hep-th↗