Elasticity and melting of skyrmion flux lattices in p-wave superconductors

TL;DR

This paper analytically studies the energy, magnetization, and elasticity of skyrmion flux lattices in p-wave superconductors near H_c1, predicting their melting behavior and providing a test for skyrmion presence.

Contribution

It offers the first analytical calculation of skyrmion flux lattice properties and predicts their unique melting behavior contrasting vortex lattices.

Findings

Skyrmion flux lattices do not melt near H_c1.

Melting occurs at fields higher than H_c1, unlike vortex lattices.

Provides a test for detecting skyrmions in superconductors.

Abstract

We analytically calculate the energy, magnetization curves (B(H)), and elasticity of skyrmion flux lattices in p-wave superconductors near the lower critical field H_c1, and use these results with the Lindemann criterion to predict their melting curve. In striking contrast to vortex flux lattices, which always melt at an external field H > H_c1, skyrmion flux lattices never melt near H_c1. This provides a simple and unambiguous test for the presence of skyrmions.