Superconducting pairing in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Abstract

We develop a method to study the effect of the superconducting transition on the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) signal in superconductors with an order parameter with an arbitrary symmetry within a quasiparticle approach. As an example, we compare the direct RIXS signal below and above the superconducting transition for p-wave-type order parameters. For a p-wave order parameter with a nodal line, we show that, counterintuitively, the effect of the gap is most noticeable for momentum transfers in the nodal direction. This phenomenon may be naturally explained as a type of nesting effect.