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Main Authors: Dzero, Maxim, Kamenev, Alex
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.15643
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author Dzero, Maxim
Kamenev, Alex
author_facet Dzero, Maxim
Kamenev, Alex
contents Collective modes in superconductors provided the first realization of the Higgs mechanism. The transverse Goldstone mode acquires a gap (i.e. a mass) when it hybridizes with the electromagnetic gauge field. The longitudinal Schmid-Higgs mode, on the other hand, is always massive. In conventional BCS theory, its gap is exactly $2Δ$, coinciding with the excitation threshold for quasiparticles. Being situated right at the edge of the continuum spectrum it gives rise to peculiar dynamics for the Schmid-Higgs mode. For instance, when suddenly excited at $t=0$, it exhibits algebraically decaying oscillations of the form $\sim \sin(2Δt)/{t}^{1/2}$. In this study, we explore the behavior of Schmid-Higgs oscillations in the presence of pair-breaking mechanisms, such as magnetic impurities or in-plane magnetic fields. These processes suppress the quasiparticle excitation threshold down to $2\varepsilon_g < 2Δ$, potentially placing the longitudinal mode within the continuum spectrum. Despite this, we show that the algebraically decaying oscillations persist, taking the form $\sim \sin(2\varepsilon_g t)/t^2$. The Schmid-Higgs mode becomes truly overdamped and exponentially decaying only in the gapless superconductors with $\varepsilon_g=0$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_15643
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Schmid-Higgs Mode in the Presence of Pair-Breaking Interactions
Dzero, Maxim
Kamenev, Alex
Superconductivity
Collective modes in superconductors provided the first realization of the Higgs mechanism. The transverse Goldstone mode acquires a gap (i.e. a mass) when it hybridizes with the electromagnetic gauge field. The longitudinal Schmid-Higgs mode, on the other hand, is always massive. In conventional BCS theory, its gap is exactly $2Δ$, coinciding with the excitation threshold for quasiparticles. Being situated right at the edge of the continuum spectrum it gives rise to peculiar dynamics for the Schmid-Higgs mode. For instance, when suddenly excited at $t=0$, it exhibits algebraically decaying oscillations of the form $\sim \sin(2Δt)/{t}^{1/2}$. In this study, we explore the behavior of Schmid-Higgs oscillations in the presence of pair-breaking mechanisms, such as magnetic impurities or in-plane magnetic fields. These processes suppress the quasiparticle excitation threshold down to $2\varepsilon_g < 2Δ$, potentially placing the longitudinal mode within the continuum spectrum. Despite this, we show that the algebraically decaying oscillations persist, taking the form $\sim \sin(2\varepsilon_g t)/t^2$. The Schmid-Higgs mode becomes truly overdamped and exponentially decaying only in the gapless superconductors with $\varepsilon_g=0$.
title Schmid-Higgs Mode in the Presence of Pair-Breaking Interactions
topic Superconductivity
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.15643