Quantum oscillations in a π-striped superconductor

Within Bogoliubov–de Gennes theory, a semiclassical approximation is used to study quantum oscillations and to determine the Fermi surface area associated with these oscillations in a model of a π-striped superconductor, where the d-wave superconducting order parameter oscillates spatially with period 8 and zero average value. This system has a nonzero density of particle-hole states at the Fermi energy, which form Landau-like levels in the presence of a magnetic field B. The Fermi surface is reconstructed via Andreev-Bragg scattering, and the semiclassical motion is along these Fermi surface sections as well as between them via magnetic breakdown. Within the approximation, oscillations periodic in 1/B are found in both the positions and widths of the lowest Landau levels. The area corresponding to these quantum oscillations for intermediate pairing interaction strength is similar to that reported for experimental measurements in the cuprates. A comparison is made of this theory to data for quantum oscillations in the specific heat measured by Riggs et al.