Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman criticality of 3D superinsulators

TL;DR

This paper predicts the existence of 3D superinsulators and their critical behavior, showing they exhibit Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) criticality similar to 2D BKT transitions, based on a new gauge theory approach.

Contribution

It introduces a gauge theory framework predicting 3D superinsulators and their VFT criticality, extending the understanding of superinsulating phases beyond two dimensions.

Findings

3D superinsulators exhibit VFT critical behavior.

The phase transition involves condensation of topological excitations.

VFT criticality is a universal feature for certain phase transitions.

Abstract

It has been believed that the superinsulating state which is the low-temperature charge Berezinskii-Kosterlitz- Thouless (BKT) phase can exist only in two dimensions. We develop a general gauge description of the su- perinsulating state and the related deconfinement transition of Cooper pairs and predict the existence of the superinsulating state in three dimensions (3d). We find that 3d superinsulators exhibit Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) critical behavior at the phase transition. This is the 3d string analogue of the Berezinski-Kosterlitz- Thouless (BKT) criticality for logarithmically and linearly interacting point particles in 2d. Our results show that singular exponential scaling behaviors of the BKT type are generic for phase transitions associated with the condensation of topological excitations.