Superfluidity and superconductivity in multicomponent quantum condensates.

Both superconductors and fermionic superfluids are characterized by frictionless coherent flow, respectively of electron pairs and fermionic atom pairs. Usually, there is only one 'species' of electron pair in a superductor, and analogously only one type of atomic pair in a fermionic superfluid. Recently systems with mixtures of multiple species of pairs have caught the attention ofresearchers, as it became clear that the interplay of the different types of pairs leads to new behavior that was not expected on the basis of systems with only one type of pair. These systems are called 'multiband' superconductors or superfluids, and in this project we will set up the theoretical tools to model their behavior from the microscopic level up to the level of the macroscopic coherent behavior. With these tools we will systematically investigate how properties (such as critical field and temperature) and important flow patterns (such as vortex matter and solitons) are affected by the multiband nature of the system, and how this multiband nature can be engineered through quantum confinement. Moreover, we seek to characterize new quantum statesemerging from the coupling between the different types of pairs.

Keywords:SUPERFLUIDITY, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, QUANTUM MECHANICS

Disciplines:Applied mathematics in specific fields, Condensed matter physics and nanophysics, Elementary particle and high energy physics, Quantum physics