Influence of phonon renormalization in Eliashberg theory for superconductivity in two- and three-dimensional systems

Abstract

Eliashberg's foundational theory of superconductivity is based on the application of Migdal's approximation, which states that vertex corrections to lowest-order electron-phonon scattering are negligible if the ratio between phonon and electron energy scales is small. The resulting theory incorporates the first Feynman diagrams for electron and phonon self-energies. However, the latter is most commonly neglected in numerical analyses. Here we provide an extensive study of full-bandwidth Eliashberg theory in two and three dimensions, where we include the full back reaction of electrons onto the phonon spectrum. We unravel the complex interplay between nesting properties, size of the Fermi surface, renormalized electron-phonon coupling, phonon softening, and superconductivity. We propose furthermore a scaling law for the maximally possible critical temperature Tcmax∝λ(Ω)Ω02−Ω2 in two- and three-dimensional systems, which embodies both the renormalized electron-phonon coupling strength λ(Ω) and softened phonon spectrum Ω. Also, we analyze for which electronic structure properties a maximal Tc enhancement can be achieved.

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