Towards exact solutions for the superconducting Tc induced by electron-phonon interaction

Abstract

Electron-phonon interaction plays an important role in metals and can lead to superconductivity and other instabilities. Previous theoretical studies on superconductivity are largely based on the Migdal-Eliashberg theory, which neglects all the vertex corrections to electron-phonon coupling and breaks down in many unconventional superconductors. Here, we go beyond the Migdal-Eliashberg approximation and develop a nonperturbative Dyson-Schwinger equation approach to deal with the superconducting transition. Remarkably, we take into account all the vertex corrections by solving two coupled Ward-Takahashi identities derived from two global U(1) symmetries and rigorously prove that the fully renormalized electron propagator satisfies a self-closed integral equation that is directly amenable to numerical computations. Our approach works equally well in the weak and strong coupling regimes and provides an efficient method to determine superconducting Tc and other quantities. As an application, our approach is used to investigate the high-Tc superconductivity in one-unit-cell FeSe/SrTiO3.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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