Nematicity Arising from a Chiral Superconducting Ground State in Magic-Angle Twisted Bilayer Graphene under In-Plane Magnetic Fields

TL;DR

This paper shows that nematicity observed in twisted bilayer graphene under in-plane magnetic fields can arise from a chiral superconducting state, challenging previous interpretations that linked nematicity solely to exotic nematic superconductivity.

Contribution

It demonstrates that in-plane magnetic fields can induce nematicity in chiral superconductors by hybridizing order parameters, providing an alternative explanation for experimental observations.

Findings

In-plane magnetic fields induce nematicity in chiral superconductors.

The paraconductivity varies as cos(2θ_B), matching experimental data.

Nematic response does not exclude a chiral superconducting ground state.

Abstract

Recent measurements of the resistivity in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene near the superconducting transition temperature show two-fold anisotropy, or nematicity, when changing the direction of an in-plane magnetic field [Cao \textit{et al.}, Science \textbf{372}, 264 (2021)]. This was interpreted as strong evidence for exotic nematic superconductivity instead of the widely proposed chiral superconductivity. Counter-intuitively, we demonstrate that in two-dimensional chiral superconductors the in-plane magnetic field can hybridize the two chiral superconducting order parameters to induce a phase that shows nematicity in the transport response. Its paraconductivity is modulated as $\cos(2\theta_{\bf B})$, with $\theta_{\bf B}$ being the direction of the in-plane magnetic field, consistent with experiment in twisted bilayer graphene. We therefore suggest that the nematic response reported by Cao \textit{et al.} does not rule out a chiral superconducting ground state.