Staggered Superconductivity in UPt$_3$: A New Phenomenological Approach

Abstract

We present a new Ginzburg-Landau theory for superconductivity in UPt$_3$, based upon a multicomponent order parameter transforming under an irreducible space group representation; the phase is staggered in real space. Our model can explain the $H-T-P$ phase diagram including the tetracritical point for all field directions. We motivate this unconventional superconducting state in terms of odd-in-time-reversal pairing that may arise in one- or two-channel Kondo models, and suggest experimental tests.

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