d-wave superconductivity in the frustrated two-dimensional periodic Anderson model

TL;DR

This study uses advanced quantum Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate that the frustrated two-dimensional periodic Anderson model exhibits a d-wave superconducting phase near an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point, driven mainly by spin fluctuations.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale numerical evidence of d-wave superconductivity emerging from an incoherent normal state in the frustrated periodic Anderson model near a quantum critical point.

Findings

Identification of a d_{x^2-y^2} superconducting phase

Superconducting dome width increases with frustration

Spin fluctuations are the main pairing mechanism

Abstract

Superconductivity in heavy-fermion materials can sometimes appear in the incoherent regime and in proximity to an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. Here we study these phenomena using large scale determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations and the dynamical cluster approximation with various impurity solvers for the periodic Anderson model with frustrated hybridization. We obtain solid evidence for a $d_{x^2-y^2}$ superconducting phase arising from an incoherent normal state in the vicinity of an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. There is a coexistence region and the width of the superconducting dome increases with frustration. Through a study of the pairing dynamics we find that the retarded spin-fluctuations give the main contribution to the pairing glue. These results are relevant for unconventional superconductivity in the Ce-$115$ family of heavy-fermions.