Theory of superconductivity in a three-orbital model of Sr2RuO4

In conventional and high transition temperature copper oxide and iron pnictide superconductors, the Cooper pairs all have even parity. As a rare exception, Sr2RuO4 is the first prime candidate for topological chiral p-wave superconductivity, which has time-reversal breaking odd-parity Cooper pairs known to exist before only in the neutral superfluid He-3. However, there are several key unresolved issues hampering the microscopic description of the unconventional superconductivity. Spin fluctuations at both large and small wave vectors are present in experiments, but how they arise and drive superconductivity is not yet clear. Spontaneous edge current is expected but not observed conclusively. Specific experiments point to highly band- and/or momentum-dependent energy gaps for quasiparticle excitations in the superconducting state. Here, by comprehensive functional renormalization group calculations with all relevant bands, we disentangle the various competing possibilities. In particular, we show the small wave vector spin fluctuations, driven by a single two-dimensional band, trigger p-wave superconductivity with quasi-nodal energy gaps. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2013