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arXiv:2512.06100

A "negative" route to pair density wave order

Wang, Hao-Xin, Hu, Yi-Jian, Huang, Wen, Hong Yao

Published Dec 5, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

Pair density waves (PDW) are novel forms of superconducting states that exhibit periodically modulated pairing. A remaining challenge is to elucidate how intrinsic PDW order can emerge robustly in strongly correlated electrons. Here we propose that PDW is prone to form in strongly coupled multiband superconductors simply with interband Cooper pairing between electrons from oppositely dispersing bands. This scenario is heuristically motivated by the observation that uniform interband pairing in such systems would exhibit negative superfluid weight -- a signature of an instability towards pairing modulation, implying that PDW emerges naturally in the true ground state. Using large-scale density-matrix-renormalization-group calculations with finite-size scaling analysis, we demonstrate this PDW mechanism in a minimal model with strong interband attractions. Our simulations reveal power-law superconducting correlations characterized by incommensurate modulations. The exponent $K_{sc}$ of the power-law PDW correlation decreases systematically with increasing ladder width, confirming a genuine long-range PDW order in the 2D limit. Our study therefore demonstrates a promising route to robust PDW states in multiband systems.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2512.06100

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Pair density waves (PDW) are novel forms of superconducting states that exhibit periodically modulated pairing. A remaining challenge is to elucidate how intrinsic PDW order can emerge robustly in strongly correlated electrons. Here we propose that PDW is prone to form in strongly coupled multiband superconductors simply with interband Cooper pairing between electrons from oppositely dispersing bands. This scenario is heuristically motivated by the observation that uniform interband pairing in such systems would exhibit negative superfluid weight -- a signature of an instability towards pairing modulation, implying that PDW emerges naturally in the true ground state. Using large-scale density-matrix-renormalization-group calculations with finite-size scaling analysis, we demonstrate this PDW mechanism in a minimal model with strong interband attractions. Our simulations reveal power-law superconducting correlations characterized by incommensurate modulations. The exponent KscK_{sc}Ksc​ of the power-law PDW correlation decreases systematically with increasing ladder width, confirming a genuine long-range PDW order in the 2D limit. Our study therefore demonstrates a promising route to robust PDW states in multiband systems.
An indispensable ingredient for pair density wave (PDW) superconductivity is the presence of an attractive pairing interaction at finite momentum. Here, we show how this condition can be met with straightforward electron-density interactions in multiband systems. The electron-density interaction, when projected to the band basis, acquires form factors with nontrivial momentum dependence and thereby exhibits a potential tendency to a finite-momentum pairing instability. By applying a mean field analysis to two simple multiband models, the checkerboard lattice and three-band Hubbard model, we find that PDW order can indeed become the leading instability if a strong nearest-neighbor attraction is present. Moreover, the condition for the transition from a uniform superconductor to a PDW superconductor is shown via a simple quantum geometric argument.
Motivated by exploring superconductivity in multi-orbital systems, we study two orbital models of spinful fermions representing (px,pyp_x,p_ypx​,py​) or (dxz,dyz)d_{xz}, d_{yz})dxz​,dyz​) orbitals on the square lattice. For minimal interorbital ttt-JJJ or ttt-VVV on-site interactions, a random phase approximation uncovers regimes of instability towards incommensurate dxyd_{xy}dxy​ pair density wave (ddd-PDW) superconductivity with driven by interband pairing. We study the competition of PDW order with uniform nodal dxyd_{xy}dxy​ pairing states and magnetic and charge density wave (CDW) instabilities. At strong coupling, we derive an effective hard-core Cooper pair Hamiltonian which we study using a bosonic Gutzwiller ansatz to reveal a period-222 PDW over a wide range of fillings as well as a checkerboard CDW at quarter-filling. Our results apply to correlated multi-orbital materials with quasi-1D bands, Hubbard models on the square-octagon lattice, and atomic fermions in ppp-orbitals. Our work highlights the role of the orbital content and multiband Fermi surfaces in stabilizing interband PDW states.
A pair density wave (PDW) is a superconducting (SC) state with a spatially modulated order parameter. Although much is known about the properties of the PDW state, its realization in microscopic models with divergent susceptibility has been challenging. Here we report a density-matrix renormalization group study of a three-band Hubbard model (also known as the Emery model) for cuprates on long two-leg square cylinders. Upon light doping, we find that the ground state of the system is consistent with that of a PDW state with mutually commensurate and power-law SC, charge (CDW), and spin (SDW) density wave correlations. The SC correlations are dominant between neighboring Cu sites with ddd-wave pairing symmetry. Interestingly, we find that the near-neighbor interactions, especially the near-neighbor attractive Vpd{V}_{pd}Vpd​ interaction between neighboring Cu and oxygen sites, can notably enhance the SC correlations while simultaneously suppressing the CDW correlations. For a modestly strong attractive Vpd{V}_{pd}Vpd​, the SC correlations become quasi-long-ranged with a divergent PDW susceptibility.
Abstract Flat-band systems provide an ideal platform for studying strong electron correlations, in which multiple quasi-degenerate charge orders frequently coexist. Motivated by this context, we investigate the pair-density-wave (PDW) superconducting state in a quasi-one-dimensional Creutz lattice featuring two strictly flat bands. Using a renormalized mean-field approach for the strongly correlated t - J model, we obtain self-consistent solutions that demonstrate a PDW phase—characterized by finite-center-of-mass-momentum Cooper pairing—coexisting with charge density wave (CDW) and bond density wave (BDW) orders. Physically, this coexistence phenomenon originates from the perfect band nesting inherent to the flat-band system, which allows for changes in the particle momentum distributions without energy cost. Here, a pure PDW solution without CDW and BDW orders emerges in the underdoped regime when magnetic effects are neglected, while strong Hubbard correlations favor a pure CDW phase. We conclude that a robust PDW phase, accompanied by CDW and BDW orders, occupies the majority of the parameter space. Furthermore, both the PDW order parameter and its critical temperature scale linearly with the superexchange coupling strength—a hallmark of flat-band superconductivity. Overall, our results reveal that a PDW superconducting state can be realized on the Creutz lattice with strong correlations.
A pair density wave (PDW) is a superconductor whose order parameter is a periodic function of space, without an accompanying spatially uniform component. Since PDWs are not the outcome of a weak-coupling instability of a Fermi liquid, a generic pairing mechanism for PDW order has remained elusive. We describe and solve models having robust PDW phases. To access the intermediate coupling limit, we invoke large-N limits of Fermi liquids with repulsive BCS interactions that admit saddle point solutions. We show that the requirements for long-range PDW order are that the repulsive BCS couplings must be nonmonotonic in space and that their strength must exceed a threshold value. We obtain a phase diagram with both finite temperature transitions to PDW order and a T=0 quantum critical point, where non-Fermi liquid behavior occurs.
Pair-density-wave (PDW) superconductivity is a state in which the superconducting order parameter modulates at a finite wavevector. Using large-scale density matrix renormalization group, we study the doped altermagnetic Mott insulator in the checkerboard ttt-JJJ model, where altermagnetic exchange anisotropy is encoded microscopically through anisotropic ferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor exchange. By mapping the ground-state phase diagram as a function of doping and altermagnetic anisotropy, mainly on six-leg cylinders, we identify a transition from a uniform ddd-wave superconducting regime with charge modulation to a PDW regime coexisting with stripe order. In the PDW regime, we report an unconventional wave-vector locking QPDW≈2QStripe\mathbf Q_{\mathrm{PDW}}\approx 2\mathbf Q_{\mathrm{Stripe}}QPDW​≈2QStripe​ along the cylinder direction, in contrast to the conventional relation. Pair correlations reveal a two-scale structure, consisting of short-distance local ddd-wave pairing and long-distance finite-momentum PDW correlations. A symmetry-based Ginzburg--Landau analysis is presented for the observed locking. Our results identify altermagnetism as a strong-coupling, microscopically grounded route to finite-momentum superconductivity in doped Mott insulators.