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arxiv: 2508.18943 · v2 · submitted 2025-08-26 · ❄️ cond-mat.mes-hall

Mass-induced Coulomb drag in capacitively coupled superconducting nanowires

Aleksandr Latyshev , Adrien Tom\`a , Eugene V. Sukhorukov This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-18 21:28 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ❄️ cond-mat.mes-hall
keywords Coulomb dragsuperconducting nanowiresquantum phase slipsmass gapsuperconductor-insulator transitioncapacitive couplingplasmon modes
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0 comments X

The pith

A mass gap in one superconducting nanowire induces finite Coulomb drag in its capacitively coupled partner.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

This paper studies Coulomb drag in two capacitively coupled superconducting nanowires. Quantum phase slips in the biased wire create voltage fluctuations that transmit to the passive wire via capacitive coupling. When both wires are superconducting, these fluctuations cancel exactly due to plasmon contributions. Tuning the second wire below the superconductor-insulator transition opens a mass gap that breaks the cancellation, producing a measurable drag voltage. The drag strength increases with wire length and approaches a maximum value fixed by the mutual capacitance.

Core claim

Quantum phase slips generate voltage fluctuations in the active nanowire that induce signals in the passive one through mutual capacitance. In the fully superconducting case these signals cancel perfectly. A mass gap in the passive wire synchronizes the plasmon modes, eliminating the cancellation and yielding a stationary drag voltage. This voltage is small for short wires but saturates at a value set by the mutual capacitance when the wires are long, as explained by semiclassical pulse propagation.

What carries the argument

The mass term in the gapped nanowire that synchronizes plasmon modes to prevent complete cancellation of induced voltage pulses from quantum phase slips.

If this is right

  • Finite drag voltage emerges only when one wire develops a mass gap below the superconductor-insulator transition.
  • Drag coefficient crosses over from weak in short wires to maximal value determined by mutual capacitance in long wires.
  • Semiclassical voltage pulse propagation shows the mass term stops full signal cancellation.
  • The effect provides a new way to probe nonlocal transport near quantum criticality in low-dimensional superconductors.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The length dependence could be tested by fabricating nanowire pairs of varying lengths.
  • This drag mechanism might apply to other systems with tunable gaps, such as in Josephson junction arrays.
  • It suggests experimental signatures for the superconductor-insulator transition in capacitively coupled setups.

Load-bearing premise

Perturbative treatment of quantum phase slips and semiclassical plasmon propagation remain accurate in the gapped phase without additional dissipation or higher-order effects that could restore exact cancellation.

What would settle it

An experiment showing that the drag voltage remains zero or does not exhibit the predicted saturation with increasing wire length when one wire is tuned into the gapped regime would falsify the central claim.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2508.18943 by Adrien Tom\`a, Aleksandr Latyshev, Eugene V. Sukhorukov.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: FIG. 1. Schematic representation of the system of two capaci [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p002_1.png] view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: FIG. 2. Time evolution of the voltage (i.e., the potential drop [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_2.png] view at source ↗
read the original abstract

We investigate Coulomb drag in a system of two capacitively coupled superconducting nanowires. In this context, drag refers to the appearance of a stationary voltage in the passive wire in response to a current bias applied to the active one. Quantum phase slips (QPS) in the biased wire generate voltage fluctuations that can be transmitted to the other. Using perturbative and semiclassical approaches, we show that when both wires are superconducting the induced voltage vanishes due to exact cancellation of plasmon contributions. By contrast, when the second wire is tuned below the superconductor-insulator transition and develops a mass gap, this cancellation is lifted and a finite drag voltage emerges. The drag coefficient exhibits a crossover from weak drag in short wires to a maximal value set by the mutual capacitance in long wires. A semiclassical picture of voltage pulse propagation clarifies the physical origin of the effect: the mass term synchronizes plasmon modes and prevents complete cancellation of induced signals. Our results establish a mechanism of mass-induced Coulomb drag in low-dimensional superconductors and suggest new routes for probing nonlocal transport near quantum criticality.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

1 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript investigates Coulomb drag between two capacitively coupled superconducting nanowires. Using perturbative treatment of quantum phase slips (QPS) and a semiclassical analysis of plasmon propagation, the authors show that an exact cancellation of induced voltages occurs when both wires remain superconducting. When the passive wire is tuned below the superconductor-insulator transition and acquires a mass gap, this cancellation is lifted, producing a finite drag voltage. The drag coefficient crosses over from weak drag at short wire lengths to a maximal value fixed by the mutual capacitance at long lengths. A semiclassical picture of synchronized voltage-pulse propagation is invoked to explain the role of the mass term.

Significance. If the central result holds, the work identifies a concrete mechanism for mass-induced Coulomb drag in low-dimensional superconductors and supplies a length-dependent crossover that is in principle testable. The combination of perturbative QPS expansion with a semiclassical plasmon picture yields a transparent physical account of how a gap in one wire breaks the cancellation present in the fully superconducting case. This could offer a new probe of nonlocal transport near the superconductor-insulator transition.

major comments (1)
  1. [Semiclassical plasmon analysis and gapped-regime drag calculation] The central claim that the mass gap lifts the plasmon cancellation rests on the perturbative QPS treatment and semiclassical wave-packet propagation remaining controlled once the passive wire enters the gapped regime. No explicit bound on the QPS fugacity or estimate of higher-order corrections that might restore partial cancellation or modify the short-to-long wire scaling is provided; this assumption is load-bearing for the predicted length crossover and the magnitude set by mutual capacitance.
minor comments (2)
  1. [Introduction and model section] Notation for the mutual capacitance and the mass gap parameter should be introduced with a clear definition at first use and kept consistent between the perturbative and semiclassical sections.
  2. [Abstract] The abstract states that the drag reaches a 'maximal value set by the mutual capacitance' in long wires; a brief statement of the limiting expression (e.g., in terms of C_m and bias current) would help readers assess the result without consulting the full derivation.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the careful reading and constructive feedback on our manuscript. We address the major comment below and indicate the revisions we will make.

read point-by-point responses

  1. Referee: [Semiclassical plasmon analysis and gapped-regime drag calculation] The central claim that the mass gap lifts the plasmon cancellation rests on the perturbative QPS treatment and semiclassical wave-packet propagation remaining controlled once the passive wire enters the gapped regime. No explicit bound on the QPS fugacity or estimate of higher-order corrections that might restore partial cancellation or modify the short-to-long wire scaling is provided; this assumption is load-bearing for the predicted length crossover and the magnitude set by mutual capacitance.

    Authors: We agree that an explicit discussion of the validity regime strengthens the presentation. Our perturbative treatment is controlled for small QPS fugacity y ≪ 1, the standard regime for superconducting nanowires. In the gapped passive wire the mass term exponentially suppresses multi-QPS processes beyond the leading order, so that corrections enter at O(y²) and remain subdominant; they neither restore the exact cancellation nor alter the leading length dependence of the drag voltage. In the long-wire limit the semiclassical plasmon propagation is justified because the gap cuts off infrared quantum fluctuations. We will add a short paragraph (or subsection) in the revised manuscript that states these bounds, specifies the range y < 0.1 and wire lengths relative to the gap-induced correlation length, and confirms that the reported crossover and saturation value are robust within this window. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: derivation follows from standard perturbative QPS and semiclassical mode analysis

full rationale

The paper derives the vanishing drag voltage from exact plasmon cancellation when both wires are superconducting, and the emergence of finite drag from the mass gap lifting that cancellation, using perturbative expansion in QPS fugacity and semiclassical plasmon propagation. These steps are direct consequences of the coupled-wire equations of motion and mode synchronization by the mass term, without any reduction to self-defined fitted quantities, predictions equivalent to inputs by construction, or load-bearing self-citations. The length-dependent crossover to a mutual-capacitance-limited value is likewise obtained from the semiclassical pulse-propagation picture applied to the gapped geometry. The central claim therefore remains independent of its own outputs and is self-contained against the model assumptions stated in the abstract.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

1 free parameters · 2 axioms · 0 invented entities

The claim depends on standard domain assumptions of superconducting nanowire theory plus the introduction of a tunable mass gap; no new free parameters beyond system capacitances and lengths are introduced in the abstract.

free parameters (1)
  • mutual capacitance
    Determines the saturated drag value for long wires; treated as an input parameter of the device geometry.
axioms (2)
  • domain assumption Perturbative expansion in quantum phase slip amplitude remains valid
    Invoked to generate voltage fluctuations transmitted across the capacitive coupling.
  • domain assumption Semiclassical propagation of plasmon modes accurately captures synchronization by the mass term
    Used to provide the physical picture that explains why cancellation is incomplete.

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Reference graph

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