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Nonunitary superconductivity in complex quantum materials.

Aline Ramires
Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal (2022)
We revisit the concept of nonunitary superconductivity and generalize it to address complex quantum materials. Starting with a brief review of the notion of nonunitary superconductivity, we discuss its spectral signatures in simple models with only the spin as an internal degree of freedom. In complex materials with multiple internal degrees of freedom, there are many more possibilities for the development of nonunitary order parameters. We provide examples focusing on d-electron systems with two orbitals, applicable to a variety of materials. We discuss the consequences for the superconducting spectra, highlighting that gap openings of band crossings at finite energies can be attributed to a nonunitary order parameter if this is associated with a finite superconducting fitness matrix. We speculate that nonunitary superconductivity in complex quantum materials is in fact very common and can be associated with multiple cases of recently reported time-reversal symmetry breaking superconductors.
Keyphrases
  • density functional theory
  • molecular dynamics
  • physical activity
  • magnetic resonance imaging
  • gene expression
  • magnetic resonance
  • dna methylation
  • room temperature
  • quantum dots
  • transition metal