A scientific team led by Elena Hassinger showed that the angular dependence in the superconductor CeRh2As2
CeRh2As2 exhibits two superconducting states: a low-field state transitions to a high-field state at 4 T when a magnetic field is applied along one axis.
We measured the specific heat, magneticsusceptibility and magnetic moment of this material for different field directions to obtain the angular dependence of the critical fields. We find that the strong field state quickly disappears when the magnetic field deviates from the initial axis. These results are in excellent agreement with our model, which defines two states with even and odd parity.
Elena Hassinger, Head of Research
The discovery allows you to test transition mechanismsbetween two superconducting states and especially their relationship with spin-orbit coupling, multiband physics and additional ordered states arising in this material.
Superconductivity with odd parity
Superconductivity is an amazing statematter in which an electric current can flow without any resistance. It usually exists in two forms. One is easily destroyed by a magnetic field and has an "even parity" (i.e., has a pointwise symmetric wave function with respect to the inversion point). The other form is stable in magnetic fields applied in certain directions and has "odd parity" (i.e., has an antisymmetric wave function).
Read more:
Scientists have found a "Pandora's box" in the bowels of the Earth: the energy from there feeds life on the planet
The main myth about dinosaurs has been refuted: scientists have understood how reptiles took over the planet
350 million years ago, something strange happened to the Earth: it affected habitability