Superfluid Transition in a Chiron Gas

Abstract

Low temperature measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of LSCO suggest that the superconducting transition is associated with the disappearance of a vortex liquid. In this note we wish to draw attention to the fact that spin-orbit-like interactions in a poorly conducting layered material can lead to a new type of quantum ground state with spin polarized soliton-like charge carriers as the important quantum degree of freedom. In 2-dimensions these solitons are vortex-like, while in 3-dimensional systems they are monopole-like. In either case there is a natural mechanism for the pairing of spin up and spin down solitons, and we find that at low temperatures there is a cross-over transition as a function of carrier density between a state where the solitons are free and a condensate state where the spin up and spin down solitons in neighboring layers are paired.