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A superconductor to superfluid phase transition in liquid metallic hydrogen

Nature volume 431, pages 666–668 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Although hydrogen is the simplest of atoms, it does not form the simplest of solids or liquids. Quantum effects in these phases are considerable (a consequence of the light proton mass) and they have a demonstrable and often puzzling influence on many physical properties1, including spatial order. To date, the structure of dense hydrogen remains experimentally elusive2. Recent studies of the melting curve of hydrogen3,4 indicate that at high (but experimentally accessible) pressures, compressed hydrogen will adopt a liquid state, even at low temperatures. In reaching this phase, hydrogen is also projected to pass through an insulator-to-metal transition. This raises the possibility of new state of matter: a near ground-state liquid metal, and its ordered states in the quantum domain. Ordered quantum fluids are traditionally categorized as superconductors or superfluids; these respective systems feature dissipationless electrical currents or mass flow. Here we report a topological analysis of the projected phase of liquid metallic hydrogen, finding that it may represent a new type of ordered quantum fluid. Specifically, we show that liquid metallic hydrogen cannot be categorized exclusively as a superconductor or superfluid. We predict that, in the presence of a magnetic field, liquid metallic hydrogen will exhibit several phase transitions to ordered states, ranging from superconductors to superfluids.

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Figure 1: Local splitting of a composite vortex line in liquid metallic hydrogen, LMH.
Figure 2: A schematic phase diagram of LMH as a function of applied magnetic field B and temperature T.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Research Council of Norway, NANOMAT and by STINT and the Swedish Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853-2501, USA

    Egor Babaev & N. W. Ashcroft

  2. Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, N-7491, Norway

    Egor Babaev & Asle Sudbø

Authors
  1. Egor Babaev
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  2. Asle Sudbø
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  3. N. W. Ashcroft
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Correspondence to Egor Babaev.

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Babaev, E., Sudbø, A. & Ashcroft, N. A superconductor to superfluid phase transition in liquid metallic hydrogen. Nature 431, 666–668 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02910

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