Abstract
Motivated by recent pump-probe experiments we consider the processes by which “hot” quasiparticles produced near the antinodes of a -wave superconductor can relax. We show that in a large region of momentum space processes which break Cooper pairs are forbidden by energy and momentum conservation. Equilibration then occurs by scattering with thermal quasiparticles: Umklapp scattering is exponentially suppressed at low temperatures, but small-angle scattering leads to power-law behavior. By solving the Boltzmann equation analytically we make detailed predictions for the temperature and intensity dependence of these processes, which we compare with experiment.
- Received 9 July 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.037003
©2004 American Physical Society