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The coupling between the spin of an electron and its momentum is recognized to generate a variety of new phases in condensed matter systems. For example, it has been recently demonstrated that spin-orbit coupling can change the nature of a trivial insulator to endow it with topological properties. Or, in symmetry broken states, spin-orbit coupling permits exotic low energy excitations such as skyrmions in helimagnets. The interplay between superconductivity and spin-orbit effects gives rise to additional surprising features, which I will discuss in my talk. For instance, it stabilizes a condensate of Cooper pairs with finite momentum (a variant of the Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinikov state) up to high magnetic fields. Even more surprisingly, in the presence of spin-orbit coupling the transition temperature into the superconducting state may increase under application of a Zeeman magnetic field. Furthermore, such superconductors can exhibit persistent currents without magnetic fields in doubly connected geometries.

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Karen Michaeli, Weizmann Institute of Science
Seminar Room of the Institute of Physics II
Contact: Simon Trebst