Crystal symmetry protected gapless vortex line phases in superconducting Dirac semimetals

Abstract

Vortex lines in superconducting Dirac semimetals with s-wave pairing realize crystal symmetry protected gapless vortex line phases in which gapless excitations propagate inside a vortex line, in the presence of appropriate crystal symmetry, spin-orbit coupling, and multiband structures. Here we present a general scheme to classify possible gapless vortex line phases in s-wave superconducting states of Dirac semimetals with rotation (or screw) symmetry and inversion symmetry, assuming that the rotation (screw) axis is parallel to the vortex line. The rotation (screw) symmetry protected gapless modes are stable as long as they have different rotation (screw) eigenvalues. The underlying mechanism for the formation of gapless vortex bound states depends on irreducible representations of rotation (screw) symmetry subject to a vortex field and is classified into three types: (i) accidental band crossing of two vortex bound-state modes under rotation symmetry; (ii) accidental and (iii) enforced band crossing of four vortex bound-state modes under screw symmetry. We present a tight-binding model of screw symmetry protected Dirac semimetal with an s-wave pair potential, demonstrating a gapless vortex line phase of type (ii). We obtain four gapless modes of vortex bound states whose gapless points (Majorana zero modes) pinned at a time-reversal invariant momentum (TRIM) when the Fermi energy is close to the Dirac points. As the Fermi energy is moved away from the Dirac points, the four gapless modes are split into a pair of two gapless modes with vanishing excitation energy at non-TRIMs. In closing, we discuss Nb3Pt as a candidate material with the fourfold screw symmetry protected Dirac cones that can host a gapless vortex line phase.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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