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Kamenev, Alex

Publications and source records attributed to Kamenev, Alex.

Quasiparticle Scattering in a Superconductor near a Nematic Critical Point: Resonance Mode and Multiple Attractive Channels

We analyze the scattering rate for 2D fermions interacting via soft nematic fluctuations. The ground state is an s-wave superconductor, but other pairing channels are almost equally attractive. This strongly alters the scattering rate: At energies beyond the pairing gap Δ, it is renormalized by contributions from all pairing channels. At energies of order Δ, it is determined by the competition between scattering into a gapped continuum and dispersing nematic resonance. The outcome is a “peak-peak-dip-hump” spectrum, similar, but not identical, to the “peak-dip-hump” structure in the cuprates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

One-dimensional scattering of two-dimensional fermions near quantum criticality

Forward scattering and backscattering play an exceptional role in the physics of two-dimensional interacting fermions. In a Fermi liquid, both give rise to a nonanalytic ω 2 ln (ω) form of the fermionic scattering rate at second order in the interaction. Here we argue that higher powers of ln (ω) show up in the backscattering contribution at higher orders. We show that these terms come from “planar” processes, which are effectively one-dimensional. This is explicitly demonstrated by extending a Fermi liquid to the limit of N >> 1 fermionic flavors, when only planar processes survive. We sum the leading logarithms for the case of a two-dimensional Fermi liquid near a nematic transition, and we obtain an expression for the scattering rate at T = 0 to all orders in the interaction. For a repulsive interaction, the resulting rate is logarithmically suppressed, and the result is valid down to ω = 0. For an attractive interaction, the ground state is an s-wave superconductor with a gap Δ 0 . We show that in this case the scattering rate increases as ω is reduced toward Δ 0 . At ω ≥ Δ 0 , the behavior of the scattering rate is rather unconventional as many pairing channels compete near a nematic critical point, and the s-wave wins only by a narrow margin. We take superconductivity into consideration and obtain the scattering rate also at smaller ω ≃ Δ 0 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Quantum Criticality of Granular Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Matter

We consider granular quantum matter defined by Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev dots coupled via random one-body hopping. Within the framework of Schwarzian field theory, we identify a zero-temperature quantum phase transition between an insulating phase at weak and a metallic phase at strong hopping. The critical hopping strength scales inversely with the number of degrees of freedom on the dots. As a result, the increase of temperature out of either phase induces a crossover into a regime of strange metallic behavior.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Topological spin ordering via Chern-Simons superconductivity

We use the Chern-Simons (CS) fermion representation of $s=1/2$ spin operators to construct topological, long-range magnetically ordered states of interacting two-dimensional (2D) quantum spin models. We show that the fermion-fermion interactions mediated by the dynamic CS flux attachment may give rise to Cooper pairing of the fermions. Specifically, in an $XY$ model on the honeycomb lattice, this construction leads to a "CS superconductor", which belongs to a topologically nontrivial in 2D symmetry class DIII, with particle-hole and time-reversal symmetries. It is shown that in the original spin language, this state corresponds to a symmetry protected topological state, which coexists with a magnetic long-range order. We discuss physical manifestations of the topological character of the corresponding state.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Optimization of spin-torque switching using AC and DC pulses

We explore spin-torque induced magnetic reversal in magnetic tunnel junctions using combined AC and DC spin-current pulses. We calculate the optimal pulse times and current strengths for both AC and DC pulses as well as the optimal AC signal frequency, needed to minimize the Joule heat lost during the switching process. The results of this optimization are compared against numeric simulations. Finally, we show how this optimization leads to different dynamic regimes, where switching is optimized by either a purely AC or DC spin-current, or a combination AC/DC spin-current, depending on the anisotropy energies and the spin-current polarization.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Electron Coherence in Mesoscopic Structures

The recent rapid progress in nanofabrication and experimental techniques made it possible to investigate a variety of meso-- and nano--scale systems, which were unavailable only a few years ago. Examples include fabrication of high-quality quantum wires in semiconductor heterostructures, of nanoscale hybrid superconductor--normal metal structures, and of a variety of novel (and much smaller) quantum dot and q-bit designs. These technological advances have led to formulation of a number of condensed matter theory problems which are equally important for applications and for the fundamental science. The present proposal aims at filling the exposed gaps in knowledge and at facilitating further development of experimental and theoretical physics of nanoscale structures. Specifically, the two PIs address the following issues: (i) The theory of interacting electrons in a quantum wire which accounts adequately for the non-linear dispersion relation of the electrons. The existing approaches rely on models with {\em linearized} electron spectrum, which fall short of addressing a growing list of experimentally relevant phenomena. (ii) Dynamics of hybrid normal--superconducting systems. A reliable treatment of dissipative phenomena in such structures is not developed as of yet, while rapid progress in fabrication makes finding the proper theoretical treatment methods highly desirable. (iii)~The fundamental limits on relaxation times of a superconducting charge q-bit. The latter is one of the most advanced scalable realizations of a quantum computing device. (iv)~The dynamics and relaxation times of a spin of an electron in a small semiconductor quantum dot. Besides the fundamental importance, these structures are also valuable candidates for quantum computing applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗