Stability of nodal quasi-particles in superconductors with coexisting orders

We establish a condition for the perturbative stability of zero energy nodal points in the quasi-particle spectrum of superconductors in the presence of coexisting \textit{commensurate} orders. The nodes are found to be stable if the Hamiltonian is invariant under time reversal followed by a lattice translation. The principle is demonstrated with a few examples. Some experimental implications of various types of assumed order are discussed in the context of the cuprate superconductors.