Phase transitions in a three dimensionalU(1)×U(1)lattice London superconductor: Metallic superfluid and charge-4esuperconducting states

Abstract

We consider a three-dimensional lattice $U(1) \times U(1)$ superconductor in the London limit, with two individually conserved condensates. The problem, generically, has two types of intercomponent interactions of different characters. First, the condensates are interacting via a minimal coupling to the same fluctuating gauge field. A second type of coupling is the direct dissipationless drag represented by a local intercomponent current-current coupling term in the free energy functional. The interplay between these two types of interactions produces a number of physical effects not present in previously investigated $U(1)\times U(1)$ models with only one kind of intercomponent interaction. In this work, we present a study of the phase diagram of a $U(1) \times U(1)$ superconductor which includes both of these interactions. We study phase transitions and two types of competing paired phases which occur in this general model: (i) a metallic superfluid phase (where there is order only in the gauge invariant phase difference of the order parameters), (ii) a composite superconducting phase where there is order in the phase sum of the order parameters which has many properties of a single-component superconductor but with a doubled value of electric charge. We investigate the phase diagram with particular focus on what we call "preemptive phase transitions". These are phase transitions {\it unique to multicomponent condensates with competing topological objects}. A sudden proliferation of one kind of topological defects may come about due to a fluctuating background of topological defects in other sectors of the theory.