Ellipsometry and broken time-reversal symmetry in the high-temperature superconductors.

Abstract

We discuss ellipsometric experiments seeking evidence of broken time-reversal symmetry in the high-temperature copper oxide superconductors. We use both a generalized symmetry analysis, and a magnetoelectric model suggested by Dzyaloshinskii, to argue that the hypothesis that best fits the various experimental results is the [ital scrPscrT]-invariance hypothesis---which assumes broken [ital scrT] symmetry in each plane, and antiferromagnetic (alternating) order of the broken symmetry in the [ital c] direction. We suggest two experimental tests of the [ital scrPscrT]-invariant model; one of these is sufficient to rule out any other broken-symmetry state and so has the potential to be extremely useful.