Quartet Structures of Particles and Quasiparticles in the BCS Model

Abstract

We study the possibility of multiple paring for more than two particles or two quasiparticles in terms of the BCS model. We consider the multiple pairs of particles in terms of the BCS Hamiltonian for two different ground states: in a quiescent Fermi sea model and in the BCS ground state. In case of quasiparticles, we consider the multiple quasiparticle pairs in terms of the BCS ground state only. Although there is no interaction between Cooper’s type pairs in terms of the BCS Hamiltonian, yet we have shown that four particles or two/four quasiparticles can be paired and form a bound state in the singlet state with just twice the bound state energy of a single Cooper’s pair. In the case of a pair of quasiparticles, the bound state exists as a result of the large quasiparticle density of states and the residual interaction between two quasiparticles which is described by the off-diagonal terms in the BCS Hamiltonian written in terms of quasiparticles. In the case of four particles, the bound state exists only as a result of the Pauli principle and the sharp Fermi edge. In the BCS model, a quartet of bound fermions indeed represents a boson, and the many-particle system of the composite of bosons can undergo the conventional Bose condensation of a boson gas. The temperature of the Bose condensation corresponds to the conventional temperature of Bose condensation for non-interacting bosons where each boson has quadruple mass (4m) and the boson density is one-quarter (n/4) of fermions density. A similar conclusion remains valid in the case of the particle–hole resonance in a quiescent Fermi sea. We have shown that in the particle–hole channel there exists the multiple particle–hole resonance for four particles and four holes in a quiescent Fermi sea model similar to the case of two particles and two holes resonance. We have shown that there is no particle–hole resonance in the case of the BCS ground state because there is no hole-type of excitations in the BCS ground state. Nevertheless we have shown that in the BCS ground state quasiparticle pairs can form bound pairs similar to the Cooper’s pair of particles due to the off-diagonal terms in the BCS Hamiltonian. The bound pairs of quasiparticles exist as a result of extremely large quasiparticle density of states. We also discuss the formation of a quartet of quasiparticles and the Bose condensation of the multiple pairs of quasiparticles.