On the Nature of Charge Density Waves, Superconductivity and Their Interplay in 1T-TiSe₂

Description

This thesis presents analytical theoretical studies on the interplay between charge density waves (CDW) and superconductivity (SC) in the actively studied transition-metal dichalcogenide 1T-TiSe2. It begins by reapproaching a years-long debate over the nature of the phase transition to the  commensurate CDW (CCDW) state and the role played by the intrinsic tendency towards excitonic condensation in this system.  A Ginzburg-Landau phenomenological theory was subsequently developed to understand the experimentally observed transition from commensurate to incommensurate CDW (ICDW) order with doping or pressure, and the emergence of a superconducting dome that coexists with ICDW. Finally, to characterize microscopically the effects of the interplay between CDW and SC, the spectrum of CDW fluctuations beyond mean-field was studied in detail. In the aggregate, the work reported here provides an encompassing understanding of what are possibly key microscopic underpinnings of the CDWand SC physics in TiSe2.