Josephson effect between superconducting nanograins with discrete energy levels

We investigate the Josephson effect between two coupled superconductors, coupled by the tunneling of pairs of electrons, in the regime that their energy level spacing is comparable to the bulk superconducting gap, but neglecting any charging effects. In this regime, BCS theory is not valid, and the notion of a superconducting order parameter with a well-defined phase is inapplicable. Using the density matrix renormalization group, we calculate the ground state of the two coupled superconductors and extract the Josephson energy. The Josephson energy is found to display a reentrant behavior (decrease followed by increase) as a function of increasing level spacing. For weak Josephson coupling, a tight-binding approximation is introduced, which illustrates the physical mechanism underlying this reentrance in a transparent way. The DMRG method is also applied to two strongly coupled superconductors and allows a detailed examination of the limits of validity of the tight-binding model.Received: 8 September 2003, Published online: 28 May 2004PACS: 74.20.-z Theories and models of superconducting state - 74.78.-w Superconducting films and low-dimensional structures - 74.50. + r Tunneling phenomena; point contacts, weak links, Josephson effects     

Post Gaussian effective potential in the Ginzburg Landau theory of superconductivity

The post Gaussian effective potential in D = 3 dimensions and the Gaussian effective potential in are evaluated for the Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity. It is shown that, the next order correction to the Gaussian approximation of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter is significant, whereas contribution from the two dimensionality is rather small. This strongly indicates that strong correlation plays a more dominant role than the two dimensionality does in high T _c superconductivity.Received: 11 November 2003, Published online: 12 July 2004PACS: 74.40. + k Fluctuations (noise, chaos, nonequilibrium superconductivity, localization, etc.) - 11.15.Ex Spontaneous breaking of gauge symmetries - 74.20.De Phenomenological theories (two-fluid, Ginzburg-Landau, etc.) - 11.15.Tk Other nonperturbative techniquesA. Rakhimov: Permanant address: Institute of Nuclear Physics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan (CIS);     

Polaron cross-overs and <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-wave superconductivity in Hubbard-Holstein model

We present a theoretical study of superconductivity of polarons in the Hubbard-Holstein model. A residual kinematic interaction proportional to the square of the polaron hopping energy between polarons and phonons provides a pairing field for the polarons. We find that superconducting instability in the d-wave channel is possible with small transition temperatures which is maximum in the large to small polaron cross-over region. An s-wave instability is found to be not possible when the effective on-site interaction between polarons is repulsive.Received: 9 July 2004, Published online: 12 October 2004PACS: 63.20.Kr Phonon-electron and phonon-phonon interactions - 74.20.Mn Polarons and bipolarons - 74.20.Fg BCS theoy and its developmentR. Ramakumar: Present address (on leave from SINP): Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Delhi University, Delhi-110017, India     

Static magnetic susceptibility of the RbC $\mathsf{_{60}}$ polymerized fulleride

A two component model of negative U centers coupled with the Fermi sea of itinerant fermions is discussed in connection with high-temperature superconductivity of cuprates, and superfluidity of atomic fermions. We examine the phase transition and the condensed state of this boson-fermion model (BFM) beyond the ordinary mean-field approximation in two and three dimensions. No pairing of fermions and no condensation are found in two-dimensions for any symmetry of the order parameter. The expansion in the strength of the order parameter near the transition yields no linear homogeneous term in the Ginzburg-Landau-Gorkov equation and a zero upper critical field in any-dimensional BFM, which indicates that previous mean-field discussions of the model are flawed. Normal and anomalous Greens functions are obtained diagrammatically and analytically in the condensed state of a simplest version of 3D BFM. A pairing of bosons analogous to the Cooper pairing of fermions is found. There are three coupled condensates in the model, described by the off-diagonal single-particle boson, pair-fermion and pair-boson fields. These results negate the common wisdom that the boson-fermion model is adequately described by the BCS theory at weak coupling.Received: 26 February 2004, Published online: 18 June 2004PACS: 74.20.-z Theories and models of superconducting state - 74.20.Mn Nonconventional mechanisms (spin fluctuations, polarons and bipolarons, resonating valence bond model, anyon mechanism, marginal Fermi liquid, Luttinger liquid, etc.) - 74.20.Rp Pairing symmetries (other than s-wave) - 74.25.Dw Superconductivity phase diagrams     

Gauge fluctuations in superconducting films

In this paper we consider a type-I superconducting film modeled by the Ginzburg-Landau model, confined between two parallel planes a distance L apart from one another. Our approach is based on the Gaussian effective potential in the transverse unitarity gauge, which allows to treat gauge contributions in a compact form. Using techniques from dimensional and -function regularizations, modified by the confinement conditions, we investigate the critical temperature as a function of the film thickness L. The contributions from the scalar self-interaction and from the gauge fluctuations are clearly identified. The model suggests the existence of a minimal critical thickness below which superconductivity is suppressed. A comparison with present experimental observations is done.Received: 19 December 2003, Published online: 9 April 2004PACS: 74.20.-z Theories and models of superconducting state - 11.15.Ex Spontaneous breaking of gauge symmetries - 05.10.Cc Renormalization group methods     

Triplet superconductivity vs. easy-plane ferromagnetism in a 1D itinerant electron system with transverse spin anisotropy

In this paper we study the ground state phase diagram of a one-dimensional t-U-J model, at half-filling. In the large-bandwidth limit and for ferromagnetic exchange with easy-plane anisotropy, a phase with gapless charge and massive spin excitations, characterized by the coexistence of triplet superconducting and spin density wave instabilities is realized in the ground state. With reduction of the bandwidth, a transition into an insulating phase showing properties of the spin- XY model takes place.Received: 6 February 2004, Published online: 9 April 2004PACS: 71.10.Hf Non-Fermi-liquid ground states, electron phase diagrams and phase transitions in model systems - 71.10.Fd Lattice fermion models (Hubbard model, etc.) - 74.20.Mn Nonconventional mechanisms (spin fluctuations, polarons and bipolarons, resonating valence bond model, anyon mechanism, marginal Fermi liquid, Luttinger liquid, etc.) - 71.27. + a Strongly correlated electron systems; heavy fermions - 75.10.Pq Spin chain modelsG.I. Japaridze: Permanent address: Andronikashvili Institute of Physics, Georgian Academy, Tamarashvili 6, Tbilisi 380077, Georgia     

Anisotropic pairing with repulsive interactions in a model with different orbitals per site

An extension of the Hubbard model, with two orbitals of different symmetry per site is studied. When the two orbitals are hybridized by crystal field effects, the BCS approximation shows that the model has an instability towards anisotropic superconductivity. The competition between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism, and the relevance of other pairing mechanisms, like the Kohn-Luttinger instability, are also analyzed.Received: 1st December 2003, Published online: 30 January 2004PACS: 71.10.Fd Lattice fermion models (Hubbard model, etc.) - 74.20.Mn Nonconventional mechanisms     

On the Meissner effect in a superconductor with 4-fermion attraction

A presence of a Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect in a gas of spin 1/2 fermions with an interaction , where is a volume of a region in real space which is taken by thesystem and with , satisfying Fermi anticommutation relations, is investigated. The effect proves to be weaker than in BCS by a factor 3/4 at T = 0, implying a greater penetration depth of external magnetic field. V ₄ is nonzero only within a thin layer of 1-fermion energies around the chemical potential .Received: 14 June 2004, Published online: 12 October 2004PACS: 74.20.-z Theories and models of superconducting state - 74.20.Fg BCS theory and its development     

Relativistic effects in bound two-particle systems

The predictions of relativistic Schrödinger theory (RST) for the relativistic effects in helium-like ions with high nuclear charge ( -80) are elaborated in the electrostatic approximation (i.e. neglection of the magnetic interactions). The corresponding RST results are found to meet with the experimental data and with the predictions of other theoretical approaches, provided an estimate of the (neglected) magnetic effects is taken into account. This suggests to carry through high-precision calculations (including the magnetic forces) in order to further test the physical significance of RST.Received: 28 August 2003, Published online: 20 April 2004PACS: 03.65.Pm Relativistic wave equations - 03.65.Ge Solutions of wave equations: bound states - 03.65.Ud Entanglement and quantum nonlocality (e.g. EPR paradox, Bells inequalities, GHZ states, etc.)     

Fractional ac Josephson effect in p- and d-wave superconductors

For certain orientations of Josephson junctions between two p_x-wave or two d-wave superconductors, the subgap Andreev bound states produce a -periodic relation between the Josephson current I and the phase difference : . Consequently, the ac Josephson current has the fractional frequency , where V is the dc voltage. In the tunneling limit, the Josephson current is proportional to the first power (not square) of the electron tunneling amplitude. Thus, the Josephson current between unconventional superconductors is carried by single electrons, rather than by Cooper pairs. The fractional ac Josephson effect can be observed experimentally by measuring frequency spectrum of microwave radiation from the junction. We also study junctions between singlet s-wave and triplet p_x-wave, as well as between chiral -wave superconductors.Received: 24 September 2003, Published online: 2 April 2004PACS: 74.50. + r Tunneling phenomena; point contacts, weak links, Josephson effects - 74.70.Kn Organic superconductors - 74.72.-h Cuprate superconductors (high-T_c and insulating parent compounds) - 74.70.Pq Ruthenates     

Effect of orbital currents on the restricted optical conductivity sum rule

We derive the restricted optical-conductivity sum rule for a model with circulating orbital currents. It is shown that an unusual coupling of the vector potential to the interaction term of the model Hamiltonian results in a non-standard form of the sum rule. As a consequence, the temperature dependence of the restricted spectral weight could be compatible with existing experimental data for high-T _c cuprates above the critical temperature T _c . We extend our results to the superconducting state, and comment on the differences and analogies between these two symmetry-breaking phenomena.Received: 30 April 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 71.10.-w Theories and models of many-electron systems - 74.25.Gz Optical properties - 72.15.-v Electronic conduction in metals and alloys - 74.72.-h Cuprate superconductors (high-T _c and insulating parent compounds)S.G. Sharapov: Present address: Institute for Scientific Interchange, via Settimio Severo 65, 10133 Torino, Italy     

Thermal conductivity and competing orders in d-wave superconductors

We derive the expression for the thermal conductivity in the low-temperature limit in d-wave superconductors, taking into account the presence of competing orders such as spin-density wave, is-pairing, etc. The expression is used for analyzing recent experimental data in . Our analysis strongly suggests that competing orders can be responsible for anomalies in behavior of thermal conductivity observed in those experiments.Received: 9 December 2003, Published online: 2 April 2004PACS: 74.25.Fy Transport properties (electric and thermal conductivity, thermoelectric effects, etc.) - 74.72.Dn La-based cuprates - 74.72.-h Cuprate superconductors (high-Tc and insulating parent compounds)V.P. Gusynin: On leave from Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 03143 Kiev, UkraineV.A. Miransky: On leave from Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 03143 Kiev, Ukraine     

On the stability of hole crystals in layered cuprates

Recent STM measurements have revealed the existence of periodic charge modulations at the surface of certain cuprate superconductors. Here we show that the observed patterns are compatible with the formation of a three-dimensional crystal of doped holes, with space correlations extending between different Cu-O layers. This puts severe constraints on the dynamical stability of the crystallised hole structure, resulting in a close relationship between the periodicity of the electronic modulation and the interlayer distance.Received: 14 June 2004, Published online: 23 December 2004PACS: 74.72.-h Cuprate superconductors (high-T _c and insulating parent compounds) - 71.30. + h Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions - 71.38.-k Polarons and electron-phonon interactions     

Orientation dependence of proximity effect in ferromagnet/$\mathsf{d}$-wave superconductor junctions

The Nambu spinor Greens function approach is applied to studying the proximity effect in ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor (FM/d-wave SC) junctions. It is found that the magnitude of the proximity effect depends to a great extent on the orientation of the SC crystal with respect to the interface normal. On the FM side, near the interface there are two different types of density of states (DOS) with superconducting features. On the SC side, the DOS near the interface is spin dependent, indicating a local coexistence of weak ferromagnetism and d-wave superconductivity.Received: 10 February 2004, Published online: 12 July 2004PACS: 74.45. + c Proximity effects; Andreev effect; SN and SNS junctions - 74.50. + r Tunneling phenomena; point contacts, weak links, Josephson effects - 74.20.Rp Pairing symmetries (other than s-wave)     

Electronic structure of wurtzite and zinc-blende AlN

The electronic structure of AlN in wurtzite and zinc-blende phases is studied experimentally and theoretically. By using X-ray emission spectroscopy, the Al 3p, Al 3s and N 2p spectral densities are obtained. The corresponding local and partial theoretical densities of states (DOS), as well as the total DOS and the band structure, are calculated by using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method, within the framework of the density functional theory. There is a relatively good agreement between the experimental spectra and the theoretical DOS, showing a large hybridization of the valence states all along the valence band. The discrepancies between the experimental and theoretical DOS, appearing towards the high binding energies, are ascribed to an underestimation of the valence band width in the calculations, or to extra states in the optical and ionic gaps due to the presence of point defects or impurities. Differences between the wurtzite and zinc-blende phases are small and reflect the slight variations between the atomic arrangements of both phases.Received: 25 October 2004, Published online: 23 December 2004PACS: 78.70.En X-ray emission spectra and fluorescence - 71.20.Nr Semiconductor compounds - 71.15.Mb Density functional theory, local density approximation, gradient and other corrections     

Off-shell effects in laser-assisted scattering

We present calculations of laser-assisted differential cross-sections in the second Born approximation. We explore effects of off-the-energy-shell propagation, and we conclude, contrary to other works, that this effect, although significant when compared to the second Born on-shell approximation, is too small for the second Born approximation to account for experimental results.Received: 20 January 2004, Published online: 9 March 2004PACS: 34.80.Qb Laser-modified scattering - 34.50.Rk Laser-modified scattering and reactionsS. Hokland: Present address: The MR Reseach Centre, Inst. of Exp. Clinical Research, University of Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Århus N, Denmark.     

Inhomogeneous current distribution in wide high-temperature superconducting small-angle grain boundaries

Using space resolved magneto-optical microscopy we have studied the development of the critical state in high temperature superconducting small-angle grain boundaries in magnetisation experiments. It has been found that with respect to the position in the grain boundary plane this critical state develops in a highly inhomogeneous manner. Towards the centre of the grain boundary there exists a distinct suppression of the inter-granular currents flowing across the grain boundary. A strong correlation between the static (critical current) and the dynamical properties (e.g. electric field or flux-line velocity) of the vortex system inside the grain boundary appears to be the principal mechanism for the observed inhomogeneous current distribution in wide bi-crystalline current bridges.Received: 6 August 2004, Published online: 14 December 2004PACS: 74.25.Sv Critical currents - 74.72.Bk Y-based cuprates - 74.78.Bz High-T _c films - 74.81.Bd Granular, melt-textured, amorphous and composite superconductors     

Theoretical study ofμ + site in YBa2Cu3O x site in YBa2Cu3O x

The muon is a useful probe of magnetic fields in superconductors, but knowing the field seen by the muon is often of limited value until we know where the muon is in the crystal lattice. Here we employ two independent theoretical methods to search for candidate muon sites:the potential energy field method, which seeks the minimum of the electrostatic potential of theμ ⁺, and themagnetic dipolar field method, which compares the calculated magnetic field (due to host electronic or nuclear dipolar fields) with the observed local fields at the muon. Work supported by Canadian NRC and NSERC.     

The polarization tensor of neutral gluons in external fields at high temperature

The one-loop polarization operator of neutral gluons in the background constant Abelian isotopic, H ₃, and hypercharge, H ₈, chromomagnetic fields combined with A ₀ electrostatic potential at high temperature is calculated. The case when A ₀ = 0 is investigated separately. The proper time method is applied. It is found that neutral gluons do not acquire magnetic masses in the background fields, in contrast to the charged ones. The application of the results are discussed.Received: 6 October 2004, Revised: 13 December 2004, Published online: 9 February 2005A.V. Strelchenko: Permanent address: Dniepropetrovsk National University, Naukova 13 Str., Dniepropetrovsk 49050, Ukraine.     

Electronic structures and bonding of oxygen on plutonium layers

Oxygen adsorptions on -Pu (100) and (111) surfaces have been studied at both non-spin-polarized and spin-polarized levels using the generalized gradient approximation of density functional theory (GGA-DFT) with Perdew and Wang (PW) functionals. The center position of the (100) surface is found to be the most favorable site with chemisorption energies of 7.386 eV and 7.080 eV at the two levels of theory. The distances of the oxygen adatom from the Pu surface are found to be 0.92 Å and 1.02 Å, respectively. For the (111) surface non-spin-polarized calculations, the center position is also the preferred site with a chemisorption energy of 7.070 eV and the distance of the adatom being 1.31 Å, but for spin-polarized calculations the bridge and the center sites are found to be basically degenerate, the difference in chemisorption energies being only 0.021 eV. In general, due to the adsorption of oxygen, plutonium 5f orbitals are pushed further below the Fermi energy, compared to the bare plutonium layers. The work function, in general, increases due to oxygen adsorption on plutonium surfaces.Received: 20 July 2004, Published online: 9 September 2004PACS: 71.15.-m Methods of electronic structure calculations - 71.15.Mb Density functional theory, local density approximation, gradient and other corrections - 71.15.Nc Total energy and cohesive energy calculations 71.27. + a Strongly correlated electron systems; heavy fermions