Possible f - wave superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 ?

– Until recently it has been believed that the superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 is described by p-wave pairing. However, both the recent specific heat and the magnetic penetration depth measurements on the purest single crystals of Sr2RuO4 appear to be explained more consistently in terms of f-wave superconductivity. In order to further this hypothesis, we study theoretically the thermodynamics and thermal conductivity of f-wave superconductors in a planar magnetic field. We find the simple expressions for these quantities when H ≪ Hc2 and T ≪ Tc, which should be readily accessible experimentally. Introduction. – The recently discovered superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 has been believed to be described in terms of p-wave superconductor with the full energy gap [1, 2]. For example, the spontaneous spin polarization seen by muon spin rotation experiment [3] and the flat Knight shift seen by NMR [4], are consistent with the triplet pairing. However, the recent specific heat, T