2014/01/31 by Troels Arnfred Bojesen, Egor Babaev, Asle Sudbø · 60 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Condensed matter physics #Dissipative system #Frustration #Iron-based superconductors research #London penetration depth #Phase (matter) #Phase diagram #Phase transition #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Superconductivity #Superfluidity #T-symmetry #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.89.104509
published in Physical Review B 89(10) (American Physical Society) · 12 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Physical Review B
openalex publication_date 2014/03/11 · arxiv created 2014/10/23 · arxiv updated 2014/10/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/08
Using Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the phase diagram and the phase transitions in U(1)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fiℤ2 n-band superconductors with spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry (also termed s+is superconductors), focusing on the three-band case. In the limit of infinite penetration length, the system under consideration can, for a certain parameter regime, have a single first-order phase transition from a U(1)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fiℤ2 broken state to a normal state due to a nontrivial interplay between U(1) vortices and ℤ2 domain walls. This regime may also apply to multicomponent superfluids. For other parameters, when the free energy of the domain walls is low, the system undergoes a restoration of broken ℤ2 time-reversal symmetry at temperatures lower than the temperature of the superconducting phase transition. We show that inclusion of fluctuations can strongly suppress the temperature of the ℤ2 transition when frustration is weak. The main result of our paper is that for relatively short magnetic field penetration lengths, the system has a superconducting phase transition at a temperature lower than the temperature of the restoration of the broken ℤ2 symmetry. Thus, there appears a new phase that is U(1) symmetric, but breaks ℤ2 time-reversal symmetry, an anomalous dissipative (metallic) state.