Density-functional description of superconducting and magnetic proximity effects across a tunneling barrier

Abstract

A density-functional formalism for superconductivity and magnetism is presented. The resulting relations unify previously derived Kohn-Sham equations for superconductors and for non-collinear magnetism. The formalism, which discriminates Cooper pair singlets from triplets, is applied to two quantum liquids coupled by tunneling through a barrier. An exact expression is derived, relating the eigenstates and eigenvalues of the Kohn-Sham equations, unperturbed by tunneling, on one side of the barrier to the proximity-induced ordering potential on the other.