Impurity Bound States and Symmetry of the Superconducting Order Parameter in Sr_2RuO_4

Abstract

Recent experiments on Sr_2RuO_4 have indicated the presence of linear nodes in the superconducting order parameter. Among the possible spin triplet states, 2D p-wave superconductivity with E_u symmetry appears to be inconsistent with the experiments, whereas the 2D f-wave order parameter with B_1g x E_u symmetry turns out to be a more likely candidate. Here it is shown how the quasi-particle bound state wave functions around a single impurity provide a clear signature of the symmetry of the underlying superconducting order parameter.