11,970 research outputs found
Predicted electric field near small superconducting ellipsoids
We predict the existence of large electric fields near the surface of
superconducting bodies of ellipsoidal shape of dimensions comparable to the
penetration depth. The electric field is quadrupolar in nature with significant
corrections from higher order multipoles. Prolate (oblate) superconducting
ellipsoids are predicted to exhibit fields consistent with negative (positive)
quadrupole moments, reflecting the fundamental charge asymmetry of matter.Comment: To be published in Phys.Rev.Let
Electron-Phonon or Hole Superconductivity in ?
The BCS electron-phonon mechanism and the unconventional 'hole mechanism'
have been proposed as explanations for the high temperature superconductivity
observed in . It is proposed that a critical test of which theory is
correct is the dependence of on hole doping: the hole mechanism predicts
that will drop rapidly to zero as holes are added, while the
electron-phonon mechanism appears to predict increasing for a substantial
range of hole doping. Furthermore, the hole mechanism and electron-phonon
mechanism differ qualitatively in their predictions of the effect on of
change in the distances. We discuss predictions of the hole mechanism for
a variety of observables as a function of doping, emphasizing the expected
differences and similarities with the electron-phonon explanation. The hole
mechanism predicts coherence length and penetration depth to increase and
decrease monotonically with hole doping respectively.Comment: Minor changes in wording in view of referee's comments; one curve
added to fig. 11; under consideration for publication in Phys.Rev.
Superconductivity from Undressing. II. Single Particle Green's Function and Photoemission in Cuprates
Experimental evidence indicates that the superconducting transition in high
cuprates is an 'undressing' transition. Microscopic mechanisms giving
rise to this physics were discussed in the first paper of this series. Here we
discuss the calculation of the single particle Green's function and spectral
function for Hamiltonians describing undressing transitions in the normal and
superconducting states. A single parameter, , describes the strength
of the undressing process and drives the transition to superconductivity. In
the normal state, the spectral function evolves from predominantly incoherent
to partly coherent as the hole concentration increases. In the superconducting
state, the 'normal' Green's function acquires a contribution from the anomalous
Green's function when is non-zero; the resulting contribution to
the spectral function is for hole extraction and for hole
injection. It is proposed that these results explain the observation of sharp
quasiparticle states in the superconducting state of cuprates along the
direction and their absence along the direction.Comment: figures have been condensed in fewer pages for easier readin
Superconductivity from Undressing
Photoemission experiments in high cuprates indicate that quasiparticles
are heavily 'dressed' in the normal state, particularly in the low doping
regime. Furthermore these experiments show that a gradual undressing occurs
both in the normal state as the system is doped and the carrier concentration
increases, as well as at fixed carrier concentration as the temperature is
lowered and the system becomes superconducting. A similar picture can be
inferred from optical experiments. It is argued that these experiments can be
simply understood with the single assumption that the quasiparticle dressing is
a function of the local carrier concentration. Microscopic Hamiltonians
describing this physics are discussed. The undressing process manifests itself
in both the one-particle and two-particle Green's functions, hence leads to
observable consequences in photoemission and optical experiments respectively.
An essential consequence of this phenomenology is that the microscopic
Hamiltonians describing it break electron-hole symmetry: these Hamiltonians
predict that superconductivity will only occur for carriers with hole-like
character, as proposed in the theory of hole superconductivity
Correcting 100 years of misunderstanding: electric fields in superconductors, hole superconductivity, and the Meissner effect
From the outset of superconductivity research it was assumed that no
electrostatic fields could exist inside superconductors, and this assumption
was incorporated into conventional London electrodynamics. Yet the London
brothers themselves initially (in 1935) had proposed an electrodynamic theory
of superconductors that allowed for static electric fields in their interior,
which they unfortunately discarded a year later. I argue that the Meissner
effect in superconductors necessitates the existence of an electrostatic field
in their interior, originating in the expulsion of negative charge from the
interior to the surface when a metal becomes superconducting. The theory of
hole superconductivity predicts this physics, and associated with it a
macroscopic spin current in the ground state of superconductors ("Spin Meissner
effect"), qualitatively different from what is predicted by conventional
BCS-London theory. A new London-like electrodynamic description of
superconductors is proposed to describe this physics. Within this theory
superconductivity is driven by lowering of quantum kinetic energy, the fact
that the Coulomb repulsion strongly depends on the character of the charge
carriers, namely whether electron- or hole-like, and the spin-orbit
interaction. The electron-phonon interaction does not play a significant role,
yet the existence of an isotope effect in many superconductors is easily
understood. In the strong coupling regime the theory appears to favor local
charge inhomogeneity. The theory is proposed to apply to all superconducting
materials, from the elements to the high cuprates and pnictides, is
highly falsifiable, and explains a wide variety of experimental observations.Comment: Proceedings of the conference "Quantum phenomena in complex matter
2011 - Stripes 2011", Rome, 10 July -16 July 2011, to be published in J.
Supercond. Nov. Mag
Two-site dynamical mean field theory for the dynamic Hubbard model
At zero temperature, two-site dynamical mean field theory is applied to the
Dynamic Hubbard model. The Dynamic Hubbard model describes the orbital
relaxation that occurs when two electrons occupy the same site, by using a
two-level boson field at each site. At finite boson frequency, the appearance
of a Mott gap is found to be enhanced even though it shows a metallic phase
with the same bare on-site interaction in the conventional Hubbard model.
The lack of electron-hole symmetry is highlighted through the quasi-particle
weight and the single particle density of states at different fillings, which
qualitatively differentiates the dynamic Hubbard model from other conventional
Hubbard-like models.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figure
Quantum Monte Carlo and exact diagonalization study of a dynamic Hubbard model
A one-dimensional model of electrons locally coupled to spin-1/2 degrees of
freedom is studied by numerical techniques. The model is one in the class of
that describe the relaxation of an atomic orbital
upon double electron occupancy due to electron-electron interactions. We study
the parameter regime where pairing occurs in this model by exact
diagonalization of small clusters. World line quantum Monte Carlo simulations
support the results of exact diagonalization for larger systems and show that
kinetic energy is lowered when pairing occurs. The qualitative physics of this
model and others in its class, obtained through approximate analytic
calculations, is that superconductivity occurs through hole undressing even in
parameter regimes where the effective on-site interaction is strongly
repulsive. Our numerical results confirm the expected qualitative behavior, and
show that pairing will occur in a substantially larger parameter regime than
predicted by the approximate low energy effective Hamiltonian.Comment: Some changes made in response to referees comments. To be published
in Phys.Rev.
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