Variational Monte Carlo Study of Superconductivity in a Correlated System with Broken Inversion Symmetry

Abstract

Unconventional superconductivity in systems with broken inversion symmetry has attracted considerable interest because antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling (ASOC) can strongly affect the spin structure and stability of superconducting states. In this study, we investigate superconductivity in a correlated system with the symmetry of a honeycomb network using the variational Monte Carlo method. We consider a single-band Hubbard model including an on-site Coulomb interaction $U$ and ASOC with coupling strength $λ$, and compare several pairing states with different pairing symmetries. The trial wave functions are constructed from particle-number- and Gutzwiller-projected BCS states. To examine the energetic stability of each pairing state, we calculate the variational energy as a function of the gap amplitude, while optimizing the variational parameter $μ$ and the Gutzwiller parameter $g$ for each gap amplitude. At $U/t = 10$, the $f$-wave state has the lowest variational energy for $λ/t = 0$, whereas the chiral $p$-wave state becomes the most energetically favorable for $λ/t = 0.1$. These results indicate that ASOC strongly affects the competition among superconducting pairing states in the presence of strong electron correlations.