Superconductivity in Luttinger semimetals near the SU(4) limit

Abstract

We consider the spin-3/2 Luttinger fermions with contact attraction near the SU(4)-symmetric limit of vanishing Luttinger spin-orbit-coupling parameter responsible for band inversion, and at finite chemical potential. In the case of exact SU(4) symmetry the previously considered $s$-wave and five $d$-wave superconducting order parameters together form a six-dimensional irreducible representation which transforms as an antisymmetric tensor under SU(4). In this limit, we find the SU(4) [$\simeq$ SO(6)] symmetry to be spontaneously broken down to the SO(5) at the superconducting transition. When the SU(4) is reduced to the SO(3) by the weak band-inverting kinetic energy term, we show that at low temperatures the superconducting state is $is+d$, with a dominant $s$ and a small $d$ component, and spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry. Relevance to superconductivity in doped semiconductors with diamond structure is discussed.