Effective model for a supercurrent in a pair-density wave

Abstract

We extend the standard effective model of d-wave superconductivity of a single band tight-binding Hamiltonian with nearest-neighbor attraction to include finite range periodically modulated pair-hopping. The pair-hopping is characterized by a fixed wave number $\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}=\mathcal{Q}\hat{x}$ breaking lattice rotational symmetry. Within self-consistent BCS theory we study the general variational state consisting of two incommensurate singlet pair amplitudes $\Delta_{{\bf Q}_1}$ and $\Delta_{{\bf Q}_2}$ and find two types of near degenerate ground states; of the Larkin-Ovchnnikov (LO) or pair-density wave (PDW) type with $\Delta_{{\bf Q}_1}=\Delta_{{\bf Q}_2}$ and ${\bf Q}_1=-{\bf Q}_2\approx \mathcal{Q}$ or of the Fulde-Ferrell (FF) type with $\Delta_{{\bf Q}_2}=0$ and ${\bf Q}_1\approx \pm \mathcal{Q}$. An anomalous term in the static current operator arising from the pair-hopping ensures that Bloch's theorem on zero current in the ground state is enforced also for the FF ground state, despite broken time-reversal symmetry without spin-population imbalance. We also consider a supercurrent by exploring the space of pair-momenta ${\bf Q}_1$ and ${\bf Q}_2$ and identify characteristics of a state with multiple finite momentum order-parameters. This includes the possibility of phase-separation of current densities and spontaneous mirror-symmetry breaking manifested in the directional dependence of the depairing current.