The interplay between d-wave superconductivity and antiferromagnetic fluctuations: a quantum Monte Carlo study

TL;DR

This study uses quantum Monte Carlo simulations to explore how antiferromagnetic fluctuations and d-wave superconductivity interact in a modified Hubbard model, revealing their close relationship and mutual influence.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale quantum Monte Carlo analysis showing the interplay and near equivalence of magnetic and pairing scales in a Hubbard model with an additional W term.

Findings

Enhancing U/t transitions the system from d-wave superconductor to antiferromagnetic insulator.

Spin correlations follow a power-law decay with an exponent depending on coupling constants.

Superconducting and magnetic scales are identical over a broad temperature range.

Abstract

We consider the repulsive Hubbard model on a square lattice with an additional term, W, which depends upon the square of a single-particle nearest-neighbor hopping. At half-band filling, constant W, we show that enhancing U/t drives the system from a d-wave superconductor to an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator. At zero temperature in the superconducting phase, spin-spin correlations follow a powerlaw: exp(-i r Q) |r|^(-alpha). Here Q = (pi, pi) and alpha is in the range 1 < alpha < 2 and depends upon the coupling constants W and U. This results is reached on the basis of large scale quantum Monte-Carlo simulations on lattices up to 24 times 24, and is shown to be independent on the choice of the boundary conditions. We define a pairing (magnetic) scale by the temperature below which short range d-wave pairing correlations (antiferromagnetic fluctuations) start growing. With finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that both scales are identical over a large energy range. Those results show the extreme compatibility and close interplay of antiferromagnetic fluctuations and d-wave superconductivity.