Using a simple variational ansatz, we estimate the pair wave function of a superconductor obtained by doping a Mott insulator with short-range antiferromagnetic spin correlations. The pairing symmetry is generically d wave. The so-called ``anyon superconductors'' are related to traditional BCS states with d-wave order parameters that break parity and time-reversal invariance. The transition between a tetragonal normal metal and a superconductor of this type generically proceeds through an intermediate phase with either superconducting order or broken time reversal, but not both.
Using a simple variational ansatz, we estimate the pair wave function of a superconductor obtained by doping a Mott insulator with short-range antiferromagnetic spin correlations. The pairing symmetry is generically d wave. The so-called ``anyon superconductors'' are related to traditional BCS states with d-wave order parameters that break parity and time-reversal invariance. The transition between a tetragonal normal metal and a superconductor of this type generically proceeds through an intermediate phase with either superconducting order or broken time reversal, but not both.
We propose a class of wave functions that provide a unified description of antiferromagnetism and d-wave superconductivity in (doped) Mott insulators. The wave function has a Jastrow form and prohibits double occupancies. In the absence of holes, the wave function describes antiferromagnetism accurately. Off diagonal long range order develops at finite doping and the superconducting order parameter has d-wave symmetry. We also show how nodal quasiparticles and neutral spin excitations can be constructed from this wave function.
Unravelling competing orders emergent in doped Mott insulators and their interplay with unconventional superconductivity is one of the major challenges in condensed matter physics. To explore the possible superconducting state in a doped Mott insulator, we study the square-lattice t-J model with both the nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor electron hoppings and spin interactions. By using the state-of-the-art density matrix renormalization group calculation with imposing charge U(1) and spin SU(2) symmetries on the six-leg cylinders, we establish a quantum phase diagram including three phases: a stripe charge density wave phase, a superconducting phase without static charge order, and a superconducting phase coexistent with a weak charge stripe order. Crucially, we demonstrate that the superconducting phase has a power-law pairing correlation that decays much slower than the charge density and spin correlations, which is a quasi-1D descendant of the uniform d-wave superconductor in two dimensions. These findings reveal that enhanced charge and spin fluctuations with optimal doping is able to produce robust d-wave superconductivity in doped Mott insulators, providing a foundation for connecting theories of superconductivity to models of strongly correlated systems.
We study superfluidity in strongly correlated systems by focusing three features as follows. First, interplay between superfluidity and other order parameters near quantum critical points is studied. The onset positions of the order parameters with or without superconductivity determines how they interact with each other. For the spin density wave (SDW) transition, we find that the quantum critical point shifts by order |∆|, where ∆ is pairing amplitude, so that the region of SDW order is smaller in the superconductor than in the metal. This shift is larger than the |∆|2 shift predicted by theories of competing orders which ignore Fermi surface effects. Second, we study a doped antiferromagnetic Mott insulator motivated by copper based high temperature superconductors. Based on spin and charge fractionalization, the algebraic charge liquid phase whose bosonic spinons have energy gap but fermionic holons form Fermi surfaces and its superconductivity are studied. We show fluctuations of local SDW order orientation lead to d-wave superconductivity, and its quantum critical pairing mechanisms are investigated. Also, a theory of bound states between spinons and holons is studied. We show that the fractionalization induces a doubling electron-like quasiparticles, which naturally induces the fractionalized Fermi liquid. The bound state theory describes exotic properties of the underdoped Cuprates such as “nodal-antinodal dichotomy” at a mean field level description. At last, we study superfluidity of fermions in optical lattices near the Feshbach resonance. Due to divergence of scattering length at the resonance, universality is observed and characteristics of superfluidity has been studied. We extend such universal properties by considering superfluid-insulator transition with an even integer number of fermions per unit cell. The resulting insulator interpolates between a band insulator of fermions and a Mott insulator of fermion pairs.
With high-Tc cuprates in mind, properties of correlated dx2-y2-wave superconducting (SC) and antiferromagnetic (AF) states are studied for the Hubbard (t-t'-U) model on square lattices, using a variational Monte Carlo method. We employ simple trial wave functions including only crucial parameters, such as a doublon-holon binding factor indispensable to describe correlated SC and normal states as doped Mott insulators. U/t, t'/t and δ(doping rate) dependence of relevant quantities are systematically calculated. As U/t increases, a sharp crossover of SC properties occurs at U_co/t \sim 10 from a conventional BCS type to a kinetic-energy-driven type for any t'/t. As δdecreases, U_co/t is smoothly connected to the Mott transition point at half filling. For U/t\lsim 5, steady superconductivity corresponding to the cuprates is not found, whereas the d-wave SC correlation function Pd^\infty rapidly increases for U/t\gsim 6 and becomes maximum at U=U_co. Comparing the δdependence of Pd^\infty with experimentally observed dome-shaped Tc and condensation energy, we find that the effective value of U for the cuprates should be larger than the band width, for which the t-J model is valid. Analyzing the kinetic energy, we reveal that for U>U_co only doped holes (electrons) become charge carriers, which will make a small Fermi surface (hole pocket), but for UU_co is determined by two factors, i.e., the AF spin correlation, which creates singlet pairs (pseudogap), and the charge mobility dominated by Mott physics.
With the high-Tc cuprates in mind, properties of correlated d-wave superconducting (SC) states are studied for a Hubbard model on square lattices with a diagonal transfer (t-t’-U model), using a variational Monte Carlo method. We employ a simple wave function, which includes crucial parameters, in particular, a doublon-holon (D-H) binding factor important for correlated SC and normal states as doped Mott insulators. We first check that the range of dominant superconductivity is limited to a strongly correlated regime (U>W, U: onsite correlation strength, W: band width), and coincides with the effective range of the D-H binding factors. In this range of U/t and δ (doping rate), holons (in hole-doped cases) are classified into two types: doped holons and ones created as D-H pairs. Only the former holons participate in current, whereas the latter contribute to singlet-pair formation. Next, we show that the SC properties undergo a crossover at U=Uco∼W. For U<Uco, the behavior is appropriately interpreted with the conventional BCS mechanism, whereas for U>Uco (the regime of cuprates), a new idea is needed to understand the peculiar SC behavior.
We investigate how the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator evolves into the d-wave BCS superconductor through hole doping. Allowing spin fluctuations in the strong-coupling approach, we find a spin-gapped incoherent metal with preformed pairing as an intermediate phase between the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator and d-wave superconductor. This non-Fermi-liquid metal is identified with an infrared stable fixed point in the spin-decomposition gauge theory, analogous to the spin liquid insulator in the slave-boson gauge theory. We consider the single particle spectrum and dynamical spin susceptibility in the anomalous metallic phase, and discuss physical implications.