Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Half-quantum vortices (HQVs) can exist in a superconductor or superfluid with an exact or approximate $\text{U}(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\text{U}(1)$ symmetry, for instance, in spinor condensates, $^{3}\text{H}\text{e-A}$, ${\text{Sr}}_{2}{\text{RuO}}_{4}$, and possibly cuprate superconductors with stripe order. In this paper, we show that a lattice of HQVs can be stabilized at finite temperature even when it does not have lower energy than the lattice of full vortices at $T=0$ since there is a gain in configurational entropy when a full vortex fractionalizes into a pair of HQVs. Specifically, the lattice of HQVs has an optical branch of phonon modes absent in the lattice of full vortices. Moreover, the HQV lattice at $T>0$ can have a different structure than the HQV lattice at $T=0$.
Source: Physical Review B
Authors: Suk Bum Chung, Steven A. Kivelson
Institution: Stanford University
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2002969967