An efficient physically motivated computational approach to multiband superconductivity is introduced and applied to the study of the gap symmetry in a heavy-fermion, UPd2Al3. Using realistic pairing potentials and accurate energy bands that are computed within density functional theory, self-consistent calculations demonstrate that the only accessible superconducting gap with nodes exhibits d-wave symmetry in the A1g representation of the D6h point group. Our results suggest that in a superconductor with gap nodes the prevailing gap symmetry is dictated by the constraint that nodes must be as far as possible from high-density areas.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0209604,
title = {Efficient Selfconsistent Calculations of Multiband Superconductivity in UPd$_2$Al$_3$},
author = {P. M. Oppeneer and G. Varelogiannis},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0209604},
year = {2009}
}