title: Gapless excitations in strongly fluctuating superconducting wires.
abstract: We study the low-temperature tunneling density of states of thin wires where superconductivity is destroyed through quantum phase-slip proliferation. Although this regime is believed to behave as an insulator, we show that for a large temperature range this phase is characterized by a conductivity falling off at most linearly with temperature, and has a gapless excitation spectrum. This novel conducting phase results from electron-electron interaction induced pair breaking. Also, it may help clarify the low-temperature metallic features found in films and wires whose bulk realization is superconducting.
authors.affiliation: Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Institut für Theoretische Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Dganit
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meidan
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosenow
authors.forename: Yuval
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oreg
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Refael