The Superconductor-Superinsulator Transition: S-duality and the QCD on the Desktop
- University of Perugia, NiPS Laboratory, INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica (Italy)
- SwissScientific (Switzerland)
We show that the nature of quantum phases around the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) is controlled by charge-vortex topological interactions, and does not depend on the details of material parameters and disorder. We find three distinct phases, superconductor, superinsulator, and bosonic topological insulator. The superinsulator is a state of matter with infinite resistance in a finite temperature range, which is the S-dual of the superconductor and in which charge transport is prevented by electric strings binding charges of opposite sign. The electric strings ensuring linear confinement of charges are generated by instantons and are dual to superconducting Abrikosov vortices. Material parameters and disorder enter the London penetration depth of the superconductor, the string tension of the superinsulator and the quantum fluctuation parameter driving the transition between them. They are entirely encoded in four phenomenological parameters of a topological gauge theory of the SIT. Finally, we point out that, in the context of strong coupling gauge theories, the many-body localization phenomenon that is often referred to as an underlying mechanism for superinsulation is a mere transcription of the well-known phenomenon of confinement into solid-state physics language and is entirely driven by endogenous disorder embodied by instantons with no need of exogenous disorder.
- OSTI ID:
- 22919628
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, Vol. 32, Issue 1; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature; Article Copyright (c) 2018 The Author(s); http://www.springer-ny.com; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1557-1939
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Duality between coherent quantum phase-slip and the Josephson junction in nanowires by dual Hamiltonian method
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journal | October 2019 |
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