Normal charge densities in quantum critical superfluids

Abstract

The normal density of a translation-invariant superfluid often vanishes at zero temperature, as is observed in superfluid Helium and conventional superconductors described by BCS theory. Here we show that this need not be the case. We investigate the normal density in models of quantum critical superfluids using gauge-gravity duality. Models with an emergent infrared Lorentz symmetry lead to a vanishing normal density. On the other hand, models which break the isotropy between time and space may enjoy a non-vanishing normal density, depending on the spectrum of irrelevant deformations around the underlying quantum critical groundstate. Our results may shed light on recent measurements of the superfluid density and low energy spectral weight in superconducting overdoped cuprates.