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arXiv:2505.17411 · Chinese Physics Letters

Condensate Fraction Scaling and Berezinskii−Kosterlitz−Thouless Transition of Superconductivity and Superfluidity

Yuan-Yao He

Published Jul 2, 2026• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Characterizing the superconducting and superfluid transitions in two-dimensional (2D) many-body systems is of broad interest and remains a fundamental issue. In this study, we establish the condensate fraction scaling as a highly efficient tool to achieve that and accordingly propose efficient schemes to accurately determine the associated Berezinskii−Kosterlitz−Thouless (BKT) transitions. Using the 2D attractive Fermi-Hubbard model as a testbed and applying numerically exact auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we access unprecedented system sizes (up to 64 × 64 = 4096 lattice sites) and perform a comprehensive analysis for the temperature dependence and finite-size scaling of condensate fraction across the BKT transition. We demonstrate that this quantity exhibits algebraic scaling below the transition and exponential scaling above it, with significantly reduced finite-size effects comparing to the extensively studied on-site pairing correlator. This greatly improves the determination of BKT transition using moderate system sizes. We also extract finite-size BKT transition temperature from condensate fraction, and confirm its logarithmic correction on system size. Based on the accurately determined transition, we reveal that the specific heat displays an anomaly, showing a peak at a temperature slightly above BKT transition. Our findings should be generally applicable to 2D fermionic and bosonic systems hosting superconductivity or superfluidity.

DOI
10.1088/0256-307x/43/8/080703

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Abstract Characterizing the superconducting and superfluid transitions in two-dimensional (2D) many-body systems is of broad interest and remains a fundamental issue. In this study, we establish the condensate fraction scaling as a highly efficient tool to achieve that and accordingly propose efficient schemes to accurately determine the associated Berezinskii−Kosterlitz−Thouless (BKT) transitions. Using the 2D attractive Fermi-Hubbard model as a testbed and applying numerically exact auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we access unprecedented system sizes (up to 64 × 64 = 4096 lattice sites) and perform a comprehensive analysis for the temperature dependence and finite-size scaling of condensate fraction across the BKT transition. We demonstrate that this quantity exhibits algebraic scaling below the transition and exponential scaling above it, with significantly reduced finite-size effects comparing to the extensively studied on-site pairing correlator. This greatly improves the determination of BKT transition using moderate system sizes. We also extract finite-size BKT transition temperature from condensate fraction, and confirm its logarithmic correction on system size. Based on the accurately determined transition, we reveal that the specific heat displays an anomaly, showing a peak at a temperature slightly above BKT transition. Our findings should be generally applicable to 2D fermionic and bosonic systems hosting superconductivity or superfluidity.
This paper addresses the transition from the normal to the superfluid state in strongly correlated two dimensional fermionic superconductors and Fermi gases. We arrive at the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) temperature TBKTT_{\text{BKT}}TBKT​ as a function of \emph{attractive} pairing strength by associating it with the onset of quasi-condensation in the normal phase. Our approach builds on a criterion for determining the BKT transition temperature for atomic gases which is based on a well established Quantum Monte Carlo analysis of the phase space density. This latter quantity, when derived from BCS-BEC crossover theory for fermions, leads to non-monotonic behavior for TBKTT_{\text{BKT}}TBKT​ as a function of the attractive interaction or inverse scattering length. In Fermi gases, this implies a robust superconducting dome followed by a long tail from the flat BEC asymptote, rather similar to what is observed experimentally. For lattice systems we find that TBKTT_{\text{BKT}}TBKT​ has an absolute maximum of the order of 0.1EF0.1 E_F0.1EF​. We discuss how our results compare with those derived from the Nelson Kosterlitz criterion based on the mean field superfluid density and the approach to the transition from below. While there is agreement in the strict mean-field BCS regime at weak coupling, we find that at moderate pairing strength bosonic excitations cause a substantial increase in TBKTT_\text{BKT}TBKT​ followed by an often dramatic decrease before the system enters the BEC regime.
Recent experiments on ultracold Bose gases in two dimensions have provided evidence for the existence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase via analysis of the interference between two independent systems. In this work we study the two-dimensional quantum degenerate Bose gas at finite temperature using the projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation classical field method. Although this describes the highly occupied modes of the gas below a momentum cutoff, we have developed a method to incorporate the higher momentum states in our model. We concentrate on finite-sized homogeneous systems in order to simplify the analysis of the vortex pairing. We determine the dependence of the condensate fraction on temperature and compare this to the calculated superfluid fraction. By measuring the first order correlation function we determine the boundary of the Bose-Einstein condensate and BKT phases, and find it is consistent with the superfluid fraction decreasing to zero. We reveal the characteristic unbinding of vortex pairs above the BKT transition via a coarse-graining procedure. Finally, we model the procedure used in experiments to infer system correlations [Hadzibabic et al., Nature 441, 1118 (2006)], and quantify its level of agreement with directly calculated in situ correlation functions.
We test an improved finite-size scaling method for reliably extracting the critical temperature T BKT of a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless (BKT) transition. Using known single-parameter logarithmic corrections to the spin stiffness ρ s at T BKT in combination with the Kosterlitz–Nelson relation between the transition temperature and the stiffness, ρ s ( T BKT ) = 2 T BKT /π, we define a size-dependent transition temperature T BKT ( L 1 , L 2 ) based on a pair of system sizes L 1 , L 2 , e.g., L 2 = 2 L 1 . We use Monte Carlo data for the standard two-dimensional classical XY model to demonstrate that this quantity is well behaved and can be reliably extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit using the next expected logarithmic correction beyond the ones included in defining T BKT ( L 1 , L 2 ). For the Monte Carlo calculations we use GPU (graphical processing unit) computing to obtain high-precision data for L up to 512. We find that the sub-leading logarithmic corrections have significant effects on the extrapolation. Our result T BKT = 0.8935(1) is several error bars above the previously best estimates of the transition temperature, T BKT ≈ 0.8929. If only the leading log-correction is used, the result is, however, consistent with the lower value, suggesting that previous works have underestimated T BKT because of the neglect of sub-leading logarithms. Our method is easy to implement in practice and should be applicable to generic BKT transitions.
We perform large-scale, numerically exact calculations on the two-dimensional interacting Fermi gas with a contact attraction. Reaching much larger lattice sizes and lower temperatures than previously possible, we determine systematically the finite-temperature phase diagram of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transitions for interaction strengths ranging from BCS to crossover to BEC regimes. The evolutions of the pairing wave functions and the fermion and Cooper pair momentum distributions with temperature are accurately characterized. In the crossover regime, we find that the contact has a nonmonotonic temperature dependence, first increasing as temperature is lowered, and then showing a slight decline below the BKT transition temperature to approach the ground-state value from above.
Abstract This paper addresses the transition from the normal to the superfluid state in strongly correlated two dimensional fermionic superconductors and Fermi gases. We arrive at the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless (BKT) temperature T BKT as a function of attractive pairing strength by associating it with the onset of ‘quasi-condensation’ in the normal phase. Our approach builds on a criterion for determining the BKT transition temperature for atomic gases which is based on a well established quantum Monte Carlo analysis of the phase space density. This latter quantity, when derived from BCS–BEC crossover theory for fermions, leads to non-monotonic behavior for T BKT as a function of the attractive interaction or inverse scattering length. In Fermi gases, this implies a robust superconducting dome followed by a long tail from the flat BEC asymptote, rather similar to what is observed experimentally. For lattice systems we find that T BKT has an absolute maximum of the order of 0.1E F. We discuss how our results compare with those derived from the Nelson–Kosterlitz criterion based on the mean field superfluid density and the approach to the transition from below. While there is agreement in the strict mean-field BCS regime at weak coupling, we find that at moderate pairing strength bosonic excitations cause a substantial increase in T BKT followed by an often dramatic decrease before the system enters the BEC regime.
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