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Superconductivity of Incoherent Electrons near the Relativistic Mott Transition in Twisted Dirac Materials

Veronika C. Stangier1, Mathias S. Scheurer2, Daniel E. Sheehy3, and Jörg Schmalian1,4

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 176501 – Published 28 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sgnp-ywsh

Abstract

We demonstrate that superconductivity driven by strong quantum-critical fluctuations can emerge near relativistic Mott transitions in twisted two-dimensional materials. In twisted double-bilayer WSe2, all time-reversal-even, gap-opening collective modes promote pairing, whereas time-reversal-odd modes do not. In twisted bilayer graphene, all transitions into intervalley-coherent insulators give rise to superconductivity. Hence, the two separate superconducting domes of insulating or semimetallic undoped systems are expected to merge near the Gross-Neveu transition angle. A crucial ingredient of the theory is that critical fluctuations render the electronic states strongly incoherent, allowing attractive pairing channels to overcome the bare Dirac semimetal behavior. The richer the Dirac structure, the more readily pairs can form. Finally, we demonstrate a direct relation between boson-mediated pairing and the formation of charge-carrying skyrmions in the proximate insulating state.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 176501– Published 28 April, 2026
  • Received 16 October 2025
  • Accepted 6 April 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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