Friday, 24 March 2017

condensed matter - Is time reversal symmetry broken in (conventional) superconductors?


How can one see it from BCS wavefunction and BCS Hamiltonian? i.e.



$$H_{BCS}=\sum_{k\sigma}\epsilon_k c_{k\sigma}^\dagger c_{k\sigma}-\Delta^*\sum_k c_{k\uparrow}^\dagger c_{-k\downarrow}^\dagger+h.c.$$


and:


$$\Psi_{BCS}=\Pi_k(u_k+v_k c_{k\uparrow}^\dagger c_{-k\downarrow}^\dagger)|0\rangle$$


If it has this symmetry, what significance does it has?



Answer



The Hamiltonian is time-reversal invariant: $c_{k\uparrow}\rightarrow c_{-k,\downarrow}, c_{k\downarrow}\rightarrow -c_{-k,\uparrow}$. You can check that explicitly. The ground state is also invariant, because Cooper pairs are all spin singlet.


One of the significant implications of time-reversal symmetry for s-wave superconductors is the Anderson's theorem: the pairing (e.g. the critical temperature) is not affected by time-reversal-invariant impurities (i.e. non-magnetic), as long as the impurities are not strong enough to cause localization.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Understanding Stagnation point in pitot fluid

What is stagnation point in fluid mechanics. At the open end of the pitot tube the velocity of the fluid becomes zero.But that should result...