Velocity renormalization of nodal quasiparticles in d-wave superconductors

Abstract

Gapless nodal quasiparticles emerge at a low-energy regime of high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors due to the $d_{x^2 - y^2}$ gap symmetry. We study the unusual renormalizations of the Fermi velocity $v_F$ and gap velocity $v_{\Delta}$ of these quasiparticles close to various quantum critical points in a superconducting dome. Special attention is paid to the behavior of the velocity ratio, $v_{\Delta}/v_F$, since it determines a number of observable quantities. We perform a renormalization-group analysis and show that the velocity ratio may vanish, approach unity, or diverge at different quantum critical points. The corresponding superfluid densities and critical temperatures are suppressed, slightly increased, or significantly enhanced. The effects of three types of static disorders, namely, random mass, random gauge potential, and random chemical potential, on the stability of the system are also addressed. An analogous analysis reveals that both random mass and random gauge potential are irrelevant. This implies that these fixed points of the velocity ratio are stable, and hence observable effects ignited by them are unchanged. However, the random chemical potential is marginal. As a result, these fixed points are broken, and thus, the instabilities of quantum phase transitions are triggered.