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Bounds on $T_c$ in the Eliashberg theory of Superconductivity. III: Einstein phonons

Superconductivity 2025-07-15 v2 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

The dispersionless limit of the standard Eliashberg theory of superconductivity is studied. The effective electron-electron interactions are mediated by Einstein phonons of frequency Ω>0\Omega>0, equipped with electron-phonon coupling strength λ\lambda. This allows for a detailed evaluation of the general results on TcT_c for phonons with non-trivial dispersion relation, obtained in a previous paper, (II), by the authors. The variational principle for the linear stability boundary S ⁣c\mathscr{S}_{\!c} of the normal state region against perturbations toward the superconducting region, obtained in (II), simplifies as follows: If (λ,Ω,T)S ⁣c(\lambda,\Omega,T)\in\mathscr{S}_{\!c}, then λ=1/h(ϖ)\lambda = 1/\mathfrak{h}(\varpi), where ϖ:=Ω/2πT\varpi:=\Omega/2\pi T, and where h(ϖ)>0\mathfrak{h}(\varpi)>0 is the largest eigenvalue of a compact self-adjoint operator H(ϖ)\mathfrak{H}(\varpi) on 2\ell^2 sequences; H(ϖ)\mathfrak{H}(\varpi) is the dispersionless limit P(dω)δ(ωΩ)dωP(d\omega)\to\delta(\omega-\Omega)d\omega of the operator K(P,T)\mathfrak{K}(P,T) of (II). It is shown that when ϖ2\varpi \leq \sqrt{2}, then the map ϖh(ϖ)\varpi\mapsto\mathfrak{h}(\varpi) is invertible. For λ>0.77\lambda>0.77 this yields: (i) the existence of a critical temperature Tc(λ,Ω)=Ωf(λ)T_c(\lambda,\Omega) = \Omega f(\lambda); (ii) a sequence of lower bounds on f(λ)f(\lambda) that converges to f(λ)f(\lambda). Also obtained is an upper bound on Tc(λ,Ω)T_c(\lambda,\Omega), which agrees with the asymptotic behavior Tc(λ,Ω)CΩλT_c(\lambda,\Omega) \sim C \Omega\sqrt{\lambda} for λ\lambda\sim\infty, given Ω\Omega, though with C2.034CC\approx 2.034 C_\infty, where C:=12πk(2)12=0.1827262477...C_\infty := \frac{1}{2\pi}\mathfrak{k}(2)^\frac12 =0.1827262477... is the optimal constant, and k(γ)>0\mathfrak{k}(\gamma)>0 the largest eigenvalue of a compact self-adjoint operator for the γ\gamma model, determined in the first paper, (I), on TcT_c by the authors.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2409.02121,
  title  = {Bounds on $T_c$ in the Eliashberg theory of Superconductivity. III: Einstein phonons},
  author = {Michael K. -H. Kiessling and Boris L. Altshuler and Emil A. Yuzbashyan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.02121},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

36 pages, 2 figures, revised version, accepted for publication in J. Statist. Phys