Pair density wave superconductivity: a microscopic model in two dimensions

Pair-density-wave (PDW) superconductivity is a long-sought exotic state with oscillating superconducting order parameter without the need of applying magnetic field. So far it has been rare in establishing a two-dimensional (2D) microscopic model with such exotic long-range order in its ground state. Here we propose to study PDW superconductivity in a minimal model of spinless fermions on the honeycomb lattice with nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interaction V₁ and V₂, respectively. By performing a state-of-the-art density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) study of this V₁-V₂ model at finite doping on six-leg and eight-leg honeycomb cylinders, we showed that the ground state exhibits PDW ordering (namely quasi-long-range order with a divergent PDW susceptibility). Remarkably this PDW state persists on the wider cylinder with 2D-like Fermi surfaces (FS). To the best of our knowledge, this is probably the first controlled numerical evidence of PDW in systems with 2D-like FS.