Interaction-induced Bose Metal in 2D

We show here that the regularization of the conductivity resulting from the bosonic interactions on the `insulating’ (quantum disordered) side of an insulator-superconductor transition in 2D gives rise to a metal with a finite conductivity, $\sigma =(2\mathrm{/}\pi )4e^2\mathrm{/}h$, as temperature tends to zero. The Bose metal is stable to weak disorder and hence represents a concrete example of an interaction-induced metallic phase. Phenomenological inclusion of dissipation reinstates the anticipated insulating behaviour in the quantum-disordered regime. Hence, we conclude that the traditionally-studied insulator-superconductor transition, which is driven solely by quantum fluctuations, corresponds to a superconductor-metal transition. The possible relationship to experiments on superconducting thin films in which a low-temperature metallic phase has been observed is discussed.