Multicomponent superconducting order parameter in UTe2

An unconventional superconducting state was recently discovered in UTe2, where spin-triplet superconductivity emerges from the paramagnetic normal state of a heavy fermion material. The coexistence of magnetic fluctuations and superconductivity, together with the crystal structure of this material, suggest that a unique set of symmetries, magnetic properties, and topology underlie the superconducting state. Here, we report observations of a non-zero polar Kerr effect and of two transitions in the specific heat upon entering the superconducting state, which together suggest that the superconductivity in UTe2 is characterized by a two-component order parameter that breaks time reversal symmetry. These data place constraints on the symmetries of the order parameter and inform the discussion on the presence of topological superconductivity in UTe2.

Ferromagnetic order beyond the superconducting dome in a cuprate superconductor

According to conventional wisdom, the extraordinary properties of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors arise from doping a strongly correlated antiferromagnetic insulator. The highly overdoped cuprates—whose doping lies beyond the dome of superconductivity—are considered to be conventional Fermi liquid metals. We report the emergence of itinerant ferromagnetic order below 4 kelvin for doping beyond the superconducting dome in thin films of electron-doped La2–xCexCuO4 (LCCO). The existence of this ferromagnetic order is evidenced by negative, anisotropic, and hysteretic magnetoresistance, hysteretic magnetization, and the polar Kerr effect, all of which are standard signatures of itinerant ferromagnetism in metals. This surprising result suggests that the overdoped cuprates are strongly influenced by electron correlations.