Mean-field theory of first-order quantum superconductor-insulator transition
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2024
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| _version_ | 1866909297909170176 |
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| author | Poboiko, Igor Feigel'man, Mikhail |
| author_facet | Poboiko, Igor Feigel'man, Mikhail |
| contents | Recent experimental studies on strongly disordered indium oxide films have revealed an unusual first-order quantum phase transition between the superconducting and insulating states (SIT). This transition is characterized by a discontinuous jump from non-zero to zero values of superfluid stiffness at the critical point, contradicting the conventional "scaling scenario" typically associated with SIT. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for understanding this first-order transition. Our approach is based on the concept of competition between two fundamentally distinct ground states that arise from electron pairs initially localized by strong disorder: the superconducting state and the Coulomb glass insulator. These ground states are distinguished by two crucially different order parameters, suggesting a natural expectation of a discontinuous transition between them at $T=0$. This transition occurs when the magnitudes of the superconducting gap $Δ$ and the Coulomb gap $E_C$ become comparable. Additionally, we extend our analysis to low non-zero temperatures and provide a mean-field "phase diagram" in the plane of $(T/Δ,E_C/Δ)$. Our results reveal the existence of a natural upper bound for the kinetic inductance of strongly disordered superconductors. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_08571 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Mean-field theory of first-order quantum superconductor-insulator transition Poboiko, Igor Feigel'man, Mikhail Superconductivity Disordered Systems and Neural Networks Recent experimental studies on strongly disordered indium oxide films have revealed an unusual first-order quantum phase transition between the superconducting and insulating states (SIT). This transition is characterized by a discontinuous jump from non-zero to zero values of superfluid stiffness at the critical point, contradicting the conventional "scaling scenario" typically associated with SIT. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for understanding this first-order transition. Our approach is based on the concept of competition between two fundamentally distinct ground states that arise from electron pairs initially localized by strong disorder: the superconducting state and the Coulomb glass insulator. These ground states are distinguished by two crucially different order parameters, suggesting a natural expectation of a discontinuous transition between them at $T=0$. This transition occurs when the magnitudes of the superconducting gap $Δ$ and the Coulomb gap $E_C$ become comparable. Additionally, we extend our analysis to low non-zero temperatures and provide a mean-field "phase diagram" in the plane of $(T/Δ,E_C/Δ)$. Our results reveal the existence of a natural upper bound for the kinetic inductance of strongly disordered superconductors. |
| title | Mean-field theory of first-order quantum superconductor-insulator transition |
| topic | Superconductivity Disordered Systems and Neural Networks |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.08571 |