Thermal fluctuations and vortex lattice structures in chiral $p$-wave superconductors: robustness of double-quanta vortices

TL;DR

This study uses large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to examine how thermal fluctuations affect vortex lattice structures in chiral p-wave superconductors, confirming the robustness of double-quanta vortex lattices despite thermal dissociation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the previously predicted double-quanta vortex lattice structures are thermally robust, despite thermal fluctuations causing some dissociation.

Findings

Double-quanta vortices dissociate due to thermal fluctuations.

Hexagonal doubly-quantized vortex lattices remain stable under thermal effects.

Thermal fluctuations do not significantly alter the vortex lattice ground state.

Abstract

We use large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations to study thermal fluctuations in chiral $p$-wave superconductors in an applied magnetic field in three dimensions. We consider the thermal stability of previously predicted unusual double-quanta flux-line lattice ground states in such superconductors. In previous works it was shown that, neglecting thermal fluctuations, a chiral $p$-wave superconductor forms an hexagonal lattice of doubly-quantized vortices, except extremely close to the vicinity of $H_{c2}$ where double-quanta vortices split apart. We find dissociation of double-quanta vortices driven by thermal fluctuations. However, our calculations also show that the previous predictions of hexagonal doubly-quantized vortices, where thermal fluctuations were ignored, are very robust in the considered model.