Nonequilibrium dynamics of superconductivity in the attractive Hubbard model

TL;DR

This paper develops a semiclassical framework to study nonequilibrium superconductivity in the attractive Hubbard model, revealing the critical role of spatial fluctuations in relaxation dynamics across different regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a real-space von Neumann approach for SC dynamics and analyzes relaxation processes, highlighting the impact of spatial inhomogeneities and defects.

Findings

Weak coupling relaxation dominated by Landau damping

Strong coupling exhibits two-stage relaxation with inhomogeneity effects

Long-term recovery influenced by defect dynamics

Abstract

We present a framework of semiclassical superconductivity (SC) dynamics that properly includes effects of spatial fluctuations for the attractive Hubbard model. We consider both coherent and adiabatic limits. To model the coherent SC dynamics, we develop a real-space von~Neumann equation based on the time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory. Applying our method to interaction quenches in the negative-$U$ Hubbard model, we show that the relaxation of SC order at weak coupling is dominated by Landau-damping. At strong coupling, we find a two-stage relaxation of the pairing field: a collapse of the synchronized oscillation of Cooper pairs due to spatial inhomogeneity, followed by a slow relaxation to a quasi-stationary state. SC dynamics in adiabatic limit is described by a quantum Landau-Lifshitz equation with Ginzburg-Landau relaxation. Numerical simulations of the pump-probe process show that long time recovery of the pairing field is dominated by defects dynamics. Our results demonstrate the important role of spatial fluctuations in both limits.