Physical limitations of the Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner theorem

The Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner (HMW) theorem states that infrared (IR) fluctuations prevent long-range order which breaks continuous symmetries in two dimensions (2D), at finite temperatures. We note that the theorem becomes physically effective for superconductivity (SC) only for astronomical sample sizes, so it does not prevent 2D SC in practice. We systematically explore the sensitivity of the magnetic and SC versions of the theorem to finite-size and disorder effects. For magnetism, finite-size effects, disorder, and perpendicular coupling can all restore the order parameter at a non-negligible value of T (c) equally well, making the physical reason for finite T (c) sample-dependent. For SC, an alternative version of the HMW theorem is presented, in which the temperature cutoff is set by Cooper pairing, in place of the Fermi energy in the standard version. It still allows 2D SC at 2-3 times the room temperature when the interaction scale is large and Cooper pairs are small, the case with high-T (c) SC in the cuprates. Thus IR fluctuations do not prevent 2D SC at room temperatures in samples of any reasonable size, by any known version of the HMW argument. A possible approach to derive mechanism-dependent upper bounds for SC T (c) is pointed out.

Automated summary

The Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner theorem states that infrared fluctuations prevent long-range order and continuous symmetry breaking in two dimensions at finite temperatures. While this theorem may apply to superconductivity only for extremely large samples, it does not actually prevent 2D superconductivity in practice. Various factors such as finite-size effects, disorder, and perpendicular coupling can restore the order parameter in the case of magnetism, making the physical reason for the finite critical temperature sample-dependent. An alternative version of the HMW theorem is presented for superconductivity, allowing 2D superconductivity at temperatures higher than room temperature under certain conditions.