The solution to the BCS gap equation for superconductivity and its temperature dependence

From the viewpoint of operator theory, we deal with the temperature dependence of the solution to the BCS gap equation for superconductivity. When the potential is a positive constant, the BCS gap equation reduces to the simple gap equation. We first show that there is a unique nonnegative solution to the simple gap equation, that it is continuous and strictly decreasing, and that it is of class $C^2$ with respect to the temperature. We next deal with the case where the potential is not a constant but a function. When the potential is not a constant, we give another proof of the existence and uniqueness of the solution to the BCS gap equation, and show how the solution varies with the temperature. We finally show that the solution to the BCS gap equation is indeed continuous with respect to both the temperature and the energy under a certain condition when the potential is not a constant.Comment: In this paper we can set $\varepsilon=0

The solution to the BCS gap equation and the second-order phase transition in superconductivity

The existence and the uniqueness of the solution to the BCS gap equation of superconductivity is established in previous papers, but the temperature dependence of the solution is not discussed. In this paper, in order to show how the solution varies with the temperature, we first give another proof of the existence and the uniqueness of the solution and point out that the unique solution belongs to a certain set. Here this set depends on the temperature $T$. We define another certain subset of a Banach space consisting of continuous functions of both $T$ and $x$. Here, $x$ stands for the kinetic energy of an electron minus the chemical potential. Let the solution be approximated by an element of the subset of the Banach space above. We second show, under this approximation, that the transition to a superconducting state is a second-order phase transition.Comment: Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, in pres