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Incipient nodal pairing in planar d-wave superconductors
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|June 1, 2001
Summary
A novel second pairing transition in d-wave superconductors is discovered, driven by dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in Dirac-like quasiparticles. This quantum-critical behavior offers potential spectral and transport signatures.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Superconductivity theory
- Quantum criticality
Background:
- Planar d-wave superconductors exhibit complex electronic behaviors.
- Dynamical chiral symmetry breaking is a key nonperturbative phenomenon.
- Nodal quasiparticles in (2+1)-dimensions present unique theoretical challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish the possibility of a second pairing transition in d-wave superconductors.
- To investigate this transition in the absence of external perturbations.
- To characterize the quantum-critical behavior associated with this phenomenon.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a nonperturbative approach based on dynamical chiral symmetry breaking.
- Analyzing the behavior of (2+1)-dimensional Dirac-like nodal quasiparticles.
- Calculating critical exponents and quasiparticle spectral functions.
Main Results:
- The existence of a second pairing transition (d --> d + is) is established.
- Critical exponents characterizing quantum-critical behavior are determined.
- Quasiparticle spectral functions are calculated, revealing distinct features.
Conclusions:
- The study confirms a novel superconducting phase transition driven by intrinsic mechanisms.
- The findings provide a theoretical framework for understanding complex quantum-critical phenomena.
- Observable spectral and transport features are predicted, guiding experimental verification.