电—声超导电性的对称理论

利用新的库珀对平均汤近似，导出了电－声系统中声子－库珀对有效作用，证明了声子通过交换虚的库珀对能够产生一个有效的吸引力，导致两动量相反的声子配对并构成稳定的声超导态。发现电子超导态与声子超导态的直积能构成稳定的电－声对称的高温超导基态。在声子－库珀对弱耦合极限下，基态对称破缺成为传统的ＢＣＳ基态。     

电-声超导电性的对称理论

利用新的库珀对平均汤近似，导出了电－声系统中声子－库珀对有效作用，证明了声子通过交换虚的库珀对能够产生一个有效的吸引力，导致两动量相反的声子配对并构成稳定的声超导态。发现电子超导态与声子超导态的直积能构成稳定的电－声对称的高温超导基态。在声子－库珀对弱耦合极限下，基态对称破缺成为传统的ＢＣＳ基态。     

Uranium-based heavy-fermion superconductors: an experimental survey

The uranium-based heavy-fermion superconductors were discovered almost one decade ago. Here, we present an experimental survey of their interesting normal and superconducting state properties. It appears that most of the unusual normal-state properties can be attributed to the proximity of an antiferromagnetic instability and the presence of competing electronic interactions. The discovery of a superconducting instability in these strongly-correlated electron systems came totally unexpected. The parameters describing the superconducting state yield strong deviations from the standard BCS behaviour. Accumulating evidence has been gathered for a nontrivial superconducting pair function (L ≠ 0). We illustrate recent developments by a number of prime studies, like high-field measurements and alloying experiments, and give special attention to multicomponent superconductivity in UPt₃ and (U, Th)Be₁₃.     

Phase separation in a lattice model of a superconductor with pair hopping

We have studied the extended Hubbard model with pair hopping in the atomic limit for arbitrary electron density and chemical potential. The Hamiltonian considered consists of (i) the effective on-site interaction U and (ii) the intersite charge exchange interactions I, determining the hopping of electron pairs between nearest-neighbour sites. The model can be treated as a simple effective model of a superconductor with very short coherence length in which electrons are localized and only electron pairs have a possibility of transferring. The phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of this model have been determined within the variational approach, which treats the on-site interaction term exactly and the intersite interactions within the mean-field approximation. We have also obtained rigorous results for a linear chain (d = 1) in the ground state. Moreover, at T = 0 some results derived within the random phase approximation (and the spin-wave approximation) for d = 2 and 3 lattices and within the low-density expansions for d = 3 lattices are presented. Our investigation of the general case (as a function of the electron concentration n and as a function of the chemical potential μ) shows that, depending on the values of interaction parameters, the system can exhibit not only the homogeneous phases, superconducting (SS) and nonordered (NO), but also the phase separated states (PS: SS-NO). The system considered exhibits interesting multicritical behaviour including tricritical points.     

On the phase diagram of a two-dimensional electron–hole system

The phase diagram for a system of spatially separated electrons and holes in coupled quantum wells or graphene double layers is studied in the framework of a BCS-like mean-field approach and a Landau expansion in terms of the pairing order parameter. We find a second order transition between an electron–hole plasma and a BCS phase, as well as a first-order transition between the BCS phase and a bosonic Mott phase of tightly bound electron–hole pairs without phase coherence. The electron–hole plasma exists at low and at high densities for weak interaction, the BCS phase at moderate density and the Mott phase at high density and strong interaction.     

Instabilities of weakly correlated electronic gas on a two dimensional lattice

We use the Kadanoff-Wilson renormalization group to find the instabilities of the two dimensional Hubbard model in the weak coupling limit. Starting from the full bandwidth, we reduce the energy cutoff for fermions and derive the low-energy effective action. If the filling is enough far from one half, the effective low-energy theory is BCS and there exists a mean-field like superconducting instability with D-wave order parameter. Close to the half-filling, the effective low-energy theory is parquet and the dominant fluctuations at the critical temperature are antiferromagnetic.     

Andreev reflection between a normal metal and the FFLO superconductor II: A self-consistent approach

We consider Andreev reflection in a two dimensional junction between a normal metal and a heavy fermion superconductor in the Fulde–Ferrell (FF) type of the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state. We assume s-wave symmetry of the superconducting gap. The parameters of the superconductor: the gap magnitude, the chemical potential, and the Cooper pair center-of-mass-momentum Q, are all determined self-consistently within a mean-field (BCS) scheme. The Cooper pair momentum Q is chosen as perpendicular to the junction interface. We calculate the junction conductance for a series of barrier strengths. In the case of incoming electron with spin σ = ↑ only for magnetic fields close to the upper critical field H_c2, we obtain the so-called Andreev window, i.e. the energy interval in which the reflection probability is maximal, which in turn is indicated by a peak in the conductance. The last result differs with other non-self-consistent calculations existing in the literature.     

Whence the odd-even staggering in nuclear binding?

We explore the systematics of odd-even mass staggering with a view to identifying the physical mechanisms responsible. The BCS pairing and mean-field contributions have A - and number parity dependences which can help disentangle the different contributions. This motivates the two-term parametrization c ₁ + c ₂/A as a theoretically based alternative to the inverse-power form traditionally used to fit odd-even mass differences. Assuming that the A -dependence of the BCS pairing is weak, we find that mean-field contributions are dominant below mass number A ∼ 40 while BCS pairing dominates in heavier nuclei.     

Theoretical investigation of the four-layered self-doped high-Tc superconductors: evidence of the pair tunneling effect

Based on a four-layered self-doped t-J type model and the slave-boson mean-field approach, we study theoretically the superconductivity in the electron-doped and hole-doped layers. The neighbor layers are coupled through both the single electron interlayer hopping and pair tunneling effect. The superconducting gap magnitude for the electron-doped band is nearly twice that of the hole-doped one, which contrasts with our previous understanding of the electron-hole asymmetry in high-T(c) superconductors but is consistent with recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments in four-layered materials Ba2Ca3Cu4O8F2. Our results propose that the pair tunneling effect is important to examine the multilayered superconducting materials.     

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy in MgB2

We present scanning tunneling microscopy measurements of the surface of superconducting MgB2 with a critical temperature of 39 K. In zero magnetic field the conductance spectra can be analyzed in terms of the standard BCS theory with a smearing parameter gamma. The value of the superconducting gap is 5 meV at 4.2 K, with no experimentally significant variation across the surface of the sample. The temperature dependence of the gap follows the BCS form, fully consistent with phonon-mediated superconductivity in this novel superconductor. The application of a magnetic field induces strong pair breaking as seen in the conductance spectra in fields up to 6 T.