Where Is the p-Wave Superfluid? Correlated Phase Diagram of Microwave-Shielded Polar Molecules

@misc{shi2026where,
  title = {{Where Is the \(p\)-Wave Superfluid? Correlated Phase Diagram of Microwave-Shielded Polar Molecules}},
  author = {Tao Shi},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.07744},
  eprint = {2609.07744},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.07744},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Where Is the p-Wave Superfluid? Correlated Phase Diagram of Microwave-Shielded Polar Molecules
AU  - Tao Shi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/07
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.07744
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.07744
AB  - Chiral p_x ± i p_y superfluidity in fermionic polar molecules offers a direct route to topological quantum matter with non-Abelian excitations, yet the parameter regime in which pairing survives strong correlations and competing instabilities has remained unresolved. Here we determine this regime for microwave-shielded polar molecules. Under tight confinement along the z direction, the microscopic molecular interaction collapses onto a universal quasi-two-dimensional form specified by an interaction length σ, defined as the position of its attractive minimum, and a single dimensionless coupling. We combine Fermi-hypernetted-chain Euler--Lagrange theory with correlated-basis pairing theory, thereby treating the correlation hole, density response, stability of the homogeneous fluid, and p-wave pairing within one framework. The largest pairing gap occurs immediately on the stable side of a long-wavelength spinodal instability at a two-dimensional density 4×10^−2/σ^2. Mapping this universal regime onto microscopic shielding schemes exposes an intrinsic limitation of single-microwave dressing: weakening the attraction to the optimal pairing range simultaneously weakens collisional shielding. Dual-microwave dressing removes this constraint by compensating the long-range attraction while retaining a large repulsive core. Imposing explicit requirements on collisional loss, confinement, and microwave-amplitude stability, we identify the regime of molecular mass and dipole moment favorable for p-wave superfluidity and determine experimentally realistic microwave and confinement conditions for its realization. These results turn the search for molecular p-wave superfluidity into a quantitative optimization problem and define a route toward the topological weak-pairing phase.
ER  -