Pairing Gaps, Pseudogaps, and Phase Diagrams for Cuprate Superconductors

We use a symmetry-constrained variational procedure to construct a generalization of BCS to include Cooper pairs with non-zero momentum and angular momentum. The resulting gap equations are solved at zero and finite temperature, and the doping-dependent solutions are used to construct gap and phase diagrams. We find a pseudogap terminating at a critical doping that may be interpreted in terms of both competing order and preformed pairs. The strong similarity between observation and predicted gap and phase structure suggests that this approach may provide a unified description of the complex structure observed for cuprate superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

SU(4) Model of High-Temperature Superconductivity: Manifestation of Dynamical Symmetry in Cuprates

The mechanism that leads to high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates remains an open question despite intense study for nearly two decades. Here, we introduce an SU(4) model for cuprate systems having many similarities to dynamical symmetries known to play an important role in nuclear structure physics and in elementary particle physics. Analytical solutions in three dynamical symmetry limits of this model are found: an SO(4) limit associated with antiferromagnetic order; an SU(2) limit that may be interpreted as a d-wave pairing condensate; and an SO(5) limit that may be interpreted as a doorway state between the antiferromagnetic order and the superconducting order. It is demonstrated that with a slightly broken SO(5) but under constraint of the parent SU(4) symmetry, the model is capable of describing the rich physics that is crucial in explaining why cuprate systems that are antiferromagnetic Mott insulators at half filling become superconductors through hole doping.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of "Nuclei and Mesoscopic Physics" to be published by AI