Thermodynamic transitions and topology of spin-triplet superconductivity: Application to UTe2

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

The discovery of unconventional superconductivity in the heavy-fermion material
UTe
2
has reinvigorated research of spin-triplet superconductivity. We perform a theoretical study of coupled two-component spin-triplet superconducting order parameters and their thermodynamic transitions into the superconducting state. With focus on the behavior of the temperature dependence of the specific heat capacity, we find that two-component time-reversal symmetry breaking superconducting order may feature vanishing or even negative secondary specific heat anomalies. The origin of this unusual specific heat behavior is tied to the nonunitarity of the composite order parameter. Additionally, we supply an analysis of the topological surface states associated with the different possible spin-triplet orders: single-component orders host Dirac Majorana surface states in addition to possible bulk nodes. A second component breaking time-reversal symmetry gaps these surface states producing chiral Majorana hinge modes.
DFT
+
U
band-structure calculations support that these topological phases are realized in
UTe
2
when introducing weak superconducting pairing. Our topological analysis suggests measurable signatures for surface-probe experiments to acquire further evidence of the superconducting pairing symmetry.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer054521
TidsskriftPhysical Review B
Vol/bind109
Udgave nummer5
Antal sider18
ISSN2469-9950
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2024

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge useful discussions with Morten H. Christensen, Hans Christiansen, J. C. Séamus Davis, and Takasada Shibauchi. H.S.R. was supported by research Grant No. 40509 from VILLUM FONDEN. A.K. acknowledges support by the Danish National Committee for Research Infrastructure (NUFI) through the ESS-Lighthouse Q-MAT. M.G. acknowledges support by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 856526, and from the Danish National Research Foundation, the Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences, and the German Research Foundation under the Walter Benjamin program (Grant Agreement No. 526129603).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Physical Society.

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