Supercurrent-induced topological phase transitions
Kazuaki Takasan, Shuntaro Sumita, Youichi Yanase
Abstract
We show that finite current in superconductors can induce topological phase transitions, as a result of the deformation of the quasiparticle spectrum by a finite center-of-mass (COM) momentum of the Cooper pairs. To show the wide applicability of this mechanism, we examine the topological properties of three prototypical systems: the Kitaev chain, $s$-wave superconductors, and $d$-wave superconductors. We introduce a finite COM momentum as an external field corresponding to the supercurrent and show that all the models exhibit current-induced topological phase transitions. We also discuss the possibility of observing the phase transitions in experiments and the relation to the other finite COM momentum pairing states.