Properties of the phonon-induced pairing interaction in YBa2_2Cu3_3O7_7 within the local density approximation

The properties of the phonon-induced interaction between electrons are studied using the local density approximation (LDA). Restricting the electron momenta to the Fermi surface we find generally that this interaction has a pronounced peak for large momentum transfers and that the interband contributions between bonding and antibonding band are of the same magnitude as the intraband ones. Results are given for various symmetry averages of this interaction over the Fermi surface. In particular, we find that the dimensionless coupling constant in the d-wave channel $\lambda^d$, relevant for superconductivity, is only 0.022, i.e., even about ten times smaller than the small value of the s-wave channel. Similarly, the LDA contribution to the resistivity is about a factor 10 times smaller than the observed resistivity suggesting that phonons are not the important low-energy excitations in high-T$_c$ oxides.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Critical dynamics, duality, and the exact dynamic exponent in extreme type II superconductors

The critical dynamics of superconductors is studied using renormalization group and duality arguments. We show that in extreme type II superconductors the dynamic critical exponent is given exactly by $z=3/2$. This result does not rely on the widely used models of critical dynamics. Instead, it is shown that $z=3/2$ follows from the duality between the extreme type II superconductor and a model with a critically fluctuating gauge field. Our result is in agreement with Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 7 pages, no figures; version accepted for publication in PR

Selfconsistent gauge-invariant theory of in-plane infrared response of high-Tc cuprate superconductors involving spin fluctuations

We report on results of our theoretical study of the in-plane infrared conductivity of the high-Tc cuprate superconductors using the model where charged planar quasiparticles are coupled to spin fluctuations. The computations include both the renormalization of the quasiparticles and the corresponding modification of the current-current vertex function (vertex correction), which ensures gauge invariance of the theory and local charge conservation in the system. The incorporation of the vertex corrections leads to an increase of the total intraband optical spectral weight (SW) at finite frequencies, a SW transfer from far infrared to mid infrared, a significant reduction of the SW of the superconducting condensate, and an amplification of characteristic features in the superconducting state spectra of the inverse scattering rate 1/tau. We also discuss the role of selfconsistency and propose a new interpretation of a kink occurring in the experimental low temperature spectra of 1/tau around 1000cm^{-1}.Comment: 9 pages with 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Electronic theory for superconductivity in Sr2_2RuO4_4: triplet pairing due to spin-fluctuation exchange

Using a two-dimensional Hubbard Hamiltonian for the three electronic bands crossing the Fermi level in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ we calculate the band structure and spin susceptibility $\chi({\bf q}, \omega)$ in quantitative agreement with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments. The susceptibility has two peaks at {\bf Q}$_i = (2\pi/3, 2\pi/3)$ due to the nesting Fermi surface properties and at {\bf q}$_i = (0.6\pi, 0)$ due to the tendency towards ferromagnetism. Applying spin-fluctuation exchange theory as in layered cuprates we determine from $\chi({\bf q}, \omega)$, electronic dispersions, and Fermi surface topology that superconductivity in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ consists of triplet pairing. Combining the Fermi surface topology and the results for $\chi({\bf q}, \omega)$ we can exclude $s-$ and $d-$wave symmetry for the superconducting order parameter. Furthermore, within our analysis and approximations we find that $f$-wave symmetry is slightly favored over p-wave symmetry due to the nesting properties of the Fermi surface.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, misprints correcte

Effect of Nonmagnetic Impurity in Nearly Antiferromagnetic Fermi Liquid: Magnetic Correlations and Transport Phenomena

In nearly antiferromagnetic (AF) metals such as high-Tc superconductors (HTSC's), a single nonmagnetic impurity frequently causes nontrivial widespread change of the electronic states. To elucidate this long-standing issue, we study a Hubbard model with a strong onsite impurity potential based on an improved fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) approximation, which we call the GV^I-FLEX method. This model corresponds to the HTSC with dilute nonmagnetic impurity concentration. We find that (i) both local and staggered susceptibilities are strongly enhanced around the impurity. By this reason, (ii) the quasiparticle lifetime as well as the local density of states (DOS) are strongly suppressed in a wide area around the impurity (like a Swiss cheese hole), which causes the ``huge residual resistivity'' beyond the s-wave unitary scattering limit. We stress that the excess quasiparticle damping rate caused by impurities has strong momentum-dependence due to non-s-wave scatterings induced by many-body effects, so the structure of the ``hot spot/cold spot'' in the host system persists against impurity doping. This result could be examined by the ARPES measurements. In addition, (iii) only a few percent of impurities can causes a ``Kondo-like'' upturn of resistivity ($d\rho/dT<0$) at low temperatures when the system is very close to the AF quantum critical point (QCP). The results (i)-(iii) obtained in the present study, which cannot be derived by the simple FLEX approximation, naturally explains the main impurity effects in HTSC's. We also discuss the impurity effect in heavy fermion systems and organic superconductors.Comment: 22 pages, to be published in PR