Model of collective modes in three-band superconductors with repulsive interband interactions

Abstract

I consider a simple model of a three-band superconductor with repulsive interband interactions. The frustration, associated with the odd number of bands, leads to the possible existence of an intrinsically complex time reversal symmetry breaking order parameter. In such state the fluctuations of the different gaps are strongly coupled, and this leads to the development of novel collective modes, which mix phase and amplitude oscillations. I study these fluctuations using a simple microscopic model and derive the dispersion for two physically distinct modes, which are gapped by energy less than $2\ensuremath{\Delta}$, and apparently present for all values of interband couplings.