115 research outputs found
Dirac Nodes and Quantized Thermal Hall Effect in the Mixed State of d-wave Superconductors
We consider the vortex state of d-wave superconductors in the clean limit.
Within the linearized approximation the quasiparticle bands obtained are found
to posess Dirac cone dispersion (band touchings) at special points in the
Brillouin zone. They are protected by a symmetry of the linearized Hamiltonian
that we call T_Dirac. Moreover, for vortex lattices that posess inversion
symmetry, it is shown that there is always a Dirac cone centered at zero energy
within the linearized theory. On going beyond the linearized approximation and
including the effect of the smaller curvature terms (that break T_Dirac), the
Dirac cone dispersions are found to acquire small gaps (0.5 K/Tesla in YBCO)
that scale linearly with the applied magnetic field. When the chemical
potential for quasiparticles lies within the gap, quantization of the
thermal-Hall conductivity is expected at low temperatures i.e. kappa_{xy}/T =
n[(pi k_B)^2/(3h)] with the integer `n' taking on values n=+2, -2, 0. This
quantization could be seen in low temperature thermal transport measurements of
clean d-wave superconductors with good vortex lattices.Comment: (23 pages in all [7 pages in appendices], 9 figures
Quasiparticle spectrum of d-wave superconductors in the mixed state: a large Fermi-velocity anisotropy study
The quasiparticle spectrum of a two-dimensional d-wave superconductor in the
mixed state, H_c1 << H << H_c2, is studied for large values of the ``anisotropy
ratio'' alpha_D = v_F/v_Delta. For a square vortex lattice rotated by 45
degrees from the quasiparticle anisotropy axes (and the usual choice of
Franz--Tesanovic singular gauge transformation) we determine essential features
of the band structure asymptotically for large alpha_D, using an effective
one-dimensional model, and compare them to numerical calculations. We find that
several features of the band structure decay to zero exponentially fast for
large alpha_D. Using a different choice of singular gauge transformation, we
obtain a different band structure, but still find qualitative agreement between
the 1D and full 2D calculations. Finally, we distort the square lattice into a
non-Bravais lattice. Both the one- and two-dimensional numerical calculations
of the energy spectra show a gap around zero-energy, with our gauge choice, and
the two excitation spectra agree reasonably well.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, revte
Quantum oscillations from Fermi arcs
When a metal is subjected to strong magnetic field B nearly all measurable
quantities exhibit oscillations periodic in 1/B. Such quantum oscillations
represent a canonical probe of the defining aspect of a metal, its Fermi
surface (FS). In this study we establish a new mechanism for quantum
oscillations which requires only finite segments of a FS to exist. Oscillations
periodic in 1/B occur if the FS segments are terminated by a pairing gap. Our
results reconcile the recent breakthrough experiments showing quantum
oscillations in a cuprate superconductor YBCO, with a well-established result
of many angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) studies which consistently
indicate "Fermi arcs" -- truncated segments of a Fermi surface -- in the normal
state of the cuprates.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
QED3 theory of pairing pseudogap in cuprates: From d-wave superconductor to antiferromagnet via "algebraic" Fermi liquid
High- cuprates differ from conventional superconductors in three crucial
aspects: the superconducting state descends from a strongly correlated
Mott-Hubbard insulator, the order parameter exhibits d-wave symmetry and
superconducting fluctuations play an all important role. We formulate a theory
of the pseudogap state in the cuprates by taking the advantage of these unusual
features. The effective low energy theory within the pseudogap phase is shown
to be equivalent to the (anisotropic) quantum electrodynamics in (2+1)
space-time dimensions (QED). The role of Dirac fermions is played by the
nodal BdG quasiparticles while the massless gauge field arises through
unbinding of quantum vortex-antivortex degrees of freedom. A detailed
derivation of this QED theory is given and some of its main physical
consequences are inferred for the pseudogap state. We focus on the properties
of symmetric QED and propose that inside the pairing protectorate it
assumes the role reminiscent of that played by the Fermi liquid theory in
conventional metals.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures; replaced with revised versio
Algebraic Fermi liquid from phase fluctuations: "topological" fermions, vortex "berryons" and QED3 theory of cuprate superconductors
Within the phase fluctuation model for the pseudogap state of cuprate
superconductors we identify a novel statistical "Berry phase" interaction
between the nodal quasiparticles and fluctuating vortices. The effective action
describing this model assumes the form of an anisotropic Euclidean quantum
electrodynamics in (2+1) dimensions (QED_3) and naturally generates the
marginal Fermi liquid behavior for its fermionic excitations. The doping axis
in the x-T phase diagram emerges as a quantum critical line which regulates low
energy fermiology. We examine the merits of our theory in light of available
experiments.Comment: 5 pages REVTeX + 2 PostScript Figures. Final version to appear in PR
Dynamical polarization of graphene at finite doping
The polarization of graphene is calculated exactly within the random phase
approximation for arbitrary frequency, wave vector, and doping. At finite
doping, the static susceptibility saturates to a constant value for low
momenta. At it has a discontinuity only in the second derivative.
In the presence of a charged impurity this results in Friedel oscillations
which decay with the same power law as the Thomas Fermi contribution, the
latter being always dominant. The spin density oscillations in the presence of
a magnetic impurity are also calculated. The dynamical polarization for low
and arbitrary is employed to calculate the dispersion relation and
the decay rate of plasmons and acoustic phonons as a function of doping. The
low screening of graphene, combined with the absence of a gap, leads to a
significant stiffening of the longitudinal acoustic lattice vibrations.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl
- …