Density Wave States of Non-Zero Angular Momentum

Abstract

We study the properties of states in which particle-hole pairs of non-zero angular momentum condense. These states generalize charge- and spin-density-wave states, in which s-wave particle-hole pairs condense. We show that the p-wave spin-singlet state of this type has Peierls ordering, while the d-wave spin-singlet state is the staggered flux state. We discuss model Hamiltonians which favor p-wave and d-wave density wave order. There are analogous orderings for pure spin models, which generalize spin-Peierls order. The spin-triplet density wave states are accompanied by spin-1 Goldstone bosons, but these excitations do not contribute to the spin-spin correlation function. Hence, they must be detected with NQR or Raman scattering experiments. Depending on the geometry and topology of the Fermi surface, these states may admit gapless fermionic excitations. As the Fermi surface geometry is changed, these excitations disappear at a transition which is third-order in mean-field theory. The singlet d-wave and triplet p-wave density wave states are separated from the corresponding superconducting states by zero-temperature O(4)-symmetric critical points