Superconductor-to-Spin-Density-Wave Transition in Quasi-One-Dimensional Metals with Ising Anisotropy

We study a mechanism for superconductivity in quasi-one-dimensional materials with Ising anisotropy. In an isolated chain Ising anisotropy opens a spin gap; if inter-chain coupling is sufficiently weak, single particle hopping is suppressed and the physics of coupled chains is controlled by a competition between pair hopping and exchange interaction. Spin density wave and triplet superconductivity phases are found separated by a first order phase transition. For particular parameter values a second order transition described by SO(4) symmetry is found.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur

Conductivity Due to Classical Phase Fluctuations in a Model For High-T_c Superconductors

We consider the real part of the conductivity, \sigma_1(\omega), arising from classical phase fluctuations in a model for high-T_c superconductors. We show that the frequency integral of that conductivity, \int_0^\infty \sigma_1 d\omega, is non-zero below the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$, provided there is some quenched disorder in the system. Furthermore, for a fixed amount of quenched disorder, this integral at low temperatures is proportional to the zero-temperature superfluid density, in agreement with experiment. We calculate \sigma_1(\omega) explicitly for a model of overdamped phase fluctuations.Comment: 4pages, 2figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Superconductivity and Charge Density Wave in a Quasi-One-Dimensional Spin Gap System

We consider a model of spin-gapped chains weakly coupled by Josephson and Coulomb interactions. Combining such non-perturbative methods as bosonization and Bethe ansatz to treat the intra-chain interactions with the Random Phase Approximation for the inter-chain couplings and the first corrections to this, we investigate the phase diagram of this model. The phase diagram shows both charge density wave ordering and superconductivity. These phases are seperated by a line of critical points which exhibits an approximate an SU(2) symmetry. We consider the effects of a magnetic field on the system. We apply the theory to the material Sr_2 Ca_12 Cu_24 O_41 and suggest further experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure; submitted to PRB; Revised with new version: references added; section on the flux state remove

The Second Sound of SU(2)

Using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we calculate the transport coefficients of a strongly interacting system with a non-abelian SU(2) global symmetry near a second order phase transition. From the behavior of the poles in the Green's functions near the phase transition, we determine analytically the speed of second sound, the conductivity, and diffusion constants. We discuss similarities and differences between this and other systems with vector order parameters such as p-wave superconductors and liquid helium-3.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures; v2 ref added, typo fixe

Models for Enhanced Absorption in Inhomogeneous Superconductors

We discuss the low-frequency absorption arising from quenched inhomogeneity in the superfluid density rho_s of a model superconductor. Such inhomogeneities may arise in a high-T_c superconductor from a wide variety of sources, including quenched random disorder and static charge density waves such as stripes. Using standard classical methods for treating randomly inhomogeneous media, we show that both mechanisms produce additional absorption at finite frequencies. For a two-fluid model with weak mean-square fluctuations <(d rho_s)^2 > in rho_s and a frequency-independent quasiparticle conductivity, the extra absorption has oscillator strength proportional to the quantity <(d rho_s)^2>/rho_s, as observed in some experiments. Similar behavior is found in a two-fluid model with anticorrelated fluctuations in the superfluid and normal fluid densities. The extra absorption typically occurs as a Lorentzian centered at zero frequency. We present simple model calculations for this extra absorption under conditions of both weak and strong fluctuations. The relation between our results and other model calculations is briefly discussed

Interacting Electrons on a Fluctuating String

We consider the problem of interacting electrons constrained to move on a fluctuating one-dimensional string. An effective low-energy theory for the electrons is derived by integrating out the string degrees of freedom to lowest order in the inverse of the string tension and mass density, which are assumed to be large. We obtain expressions for the tunneling density of states, the spectral function and the optical conductivity of the system. Possible connections with the phenomenology of the cuprate high temperature superconductors are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Distribution of spectral weight in a system with disordered stripes

The ``band-structure'' of a disordered stripe array is computed and compared, at a qualitative level, to angle resolved photoemission experiments on the cuprate high temperature superconductors. The low-energy states are found to be strongly localized transverse to the stripe direction, so the electron dynamics is strictly one-dimensional (along the stripe). Despite this, aspects of the two dimensional band-structure Fermi surface are still vividly apparent.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Quasiparticle undressing in a dynamic Hubbard model: exact diagonalization study

Dynamic Hubbard models have been proposed as extensions of the conventional Hubbard model to describe the orbital relaxation that occurs upon double occupancy of an atomic orbital. These models give rise to pairing of holes and superconductivity in certain parameter ranges. Here we explore the changes in carrier effective mass and quasiparticle weight and in one- and two-particle spectral functions that occur in a dynamic Hubbard model upon pairing, by exact diagonalization of small systems. It is found that pairing is associated with lowering of effective mass and increase of quasiparticle weight, manifested in transfer of spectral weight from high to low frequencies in one- and two-particle spectral functions. This 'undressing' phenomenology resembles observations in transport, photoemission and optical experiments in high T_c cuprates. This behavior is contrasted with that of a conventional electron-hole symmetric Holstein-like model with attractive on-site interaction, where pairing is associated with 'dressing' instead of 'undressing'