Exciton Mediated Triplet Superconductivity in Th System PrOs4Sb12

TL;DR

This paper investigates how orbital degrees of freedom and crystal symmetry in PrOs4Sb12 facilitate exciton-mediated triplet superconductivity, highlighting the importance of local electron states and material symmetry.

Contribution

It demonstrates the role of orbital degrees of freedom and Th point-group symmetry in stabilizing triplet superconductivity in PrOs4Sb12.

Findings

Orbital degrees of freedom are crucial for triplet pairing.

Th symmetry stabilizes triplet superconductivity.

Hybridization of 4f^2 states influences pairing mechanism.

Abstract

In PrOs4Sb12, the lowest-lying singlet and triplet states in a Pr 4f^2 configuration hybridize with conduction electrons having local a_u and t_u point-group symmetries. It is shown that for an attractive triplet pairing interaction, the orbital degrees of freedom of the t_u component are important. In addition, the Th point-group symmetry characteristic of skutterudites plays an important role in stabilizing triplet superconductivity.