Plasmon excitations and their attenuation in dirty superconductors

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive theory for plasmon excitations in dirty superconductors, revealing how their spectrum and attenuation change across the superconducting transition and with temperature.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic approach linking plasmon dispersion to optical conductivity, uncovering a discontinuity at T_c and detailing plasmon behavior near the transition.

Findings

Discontinuity in plasmon dispersion at T_c.

Plasmons remain undamped below a critical wave vector.

Attenuation is significant only near T_c within 5% temperature window.

Abstract

We develop a theory for the plasmon spectrum in dirty superconductors across the entire temperature range. Starting with the microscopic Keldysh sigma model description, we link the plasmon dispersion $\omega(q)$ to the optical conductivity $\sigma(\omega,T)$ of a superconductor, which requires analytical continuation to the lower half-plane of complex frequency. This approach reveals a discontinuity at the superconducting transition: a jump in both the real and imaginary parts of $\omega(q)$ at $T_c$. For any temperature below $T_c$, the plasmon dispersion terminates at a critical wave vector $q_c(T)$ where plasmons remains undamped, with weakly $T$-dependent $\omega[q_c(T)] \approx 2\Delta(0)$. Plasmons significantly attenuate only within a narrow 5% temperature window near $T_c$, with the propagating mode recovering at large $q$.