Thermodynamic stability of the superconducting phase diagram of UPt3

Abstract

The superconducting phase diagram ofUPt 3, as determined by accurate dilatometry as function of temperature and magnetic field (B‖c andB⊥c), exhibits three superconducting phases which meet in a tetracritical point. We show that the measured phase diagrams are thermodynamically stable and that all four phase lines are of second order. Via Ehrenfest relations the pressure dependence of the various phases has been determined. The so-calledC phase is the most stable phase under uniaxial pressure along the c-axis (p c>2.5 kbar). The resulting phase diagram in thep c -T plane yields stringent constraints on the fourth order coupling constants in the Ginzburg-Landau scenario of a vector superconducting order parameter coupled to a symmetry breaking field.