First-Order Phase Transitions in Superconductors and Smectic-<span class="aps-inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>A</mi></math></span> Liquid Crystals

B. I. Halperin; T. C. Lubensky; Shang-keng Ma

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.32.292

First-Order Phase Transitions in Superconductors and Smectic- $A$ Liquid Crystals

B. I. Halperin, T. C. Lubensky, and Shang-keng Ma

Phys. Rev. Lett. 32, 292 – Published 11 February 1974

Abstract

The superconducting phase transition is predicted to be weakly first order, because of effects of the intrinsic fluctuating magnetic field, according to a Wilson-Fisher $ε$ -expansion analysis, as well as a generalized mean-field calculation appropriate to a type-I superconductor. Similar results hold for the phase transition from a smectic- $A$ to a nematic liquid crystal.

Received 30 November 1973

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.32.292

Authors & Affiliations

B. I. Halperin

Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974

T. C. Lubensky^*

Department of Physics and Laboratory for Research in the Structure of Matter, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19174

Shang-keng Ma^†

University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037

^*Work supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
^†Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. Work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. GP-38627X.