The solutions of a renormalized BCS model are studied in two space dimensions for s, p and d waves for finite-range separable potentials. The gap parameter, the critical temperature , the coherence length and the jump in specific heat at as a function of the zero-temperature condensation energy exhibit universal scalings. In the weak-coupling limit, the present model yields a small and large , appropriate for high- cuprates. The specific heat, penetration depth and thermal conductivity as functions of temperature show universal scaling for p and d waves.
A method of general applicability to the solution of second-quantized field theories at finite temperature is illustrated using the BCS (Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer) model of superconductivity. Finite-temperature field theory is treated using the thermo field-theory formalism of Umezawa and collaborators. The solution of the field theory uses an expansion in thermal modes analogous to the Haag expansion in asymptotic fields used in the N-quantum approximation at zero temperature. The lowest approximation gives the usual gap equation.
Starting from H. Fröhlich's second-quantized Hamiltonian for a
d-dimensional electron gas in interaction with lattice phonons describing the quantum vibrations of a metal, we present a rigorous mathematical derivation of the superconducting state, following the principles laid out originally in 1957 by J. Bardeen, L. Cooper and J. Schrieffer. As in the series of papers written on the subject in the 90es, of which the present paper is a continuation, the representation of ions as a uniform charge background allows for a
(1+d)-dimensional fermionic quantum-field theoretic reformulation of the model at equilibrium. For simplicity, we restrict in this article to
d=2 dimensions and zero temperature, and disregard effects due to electromagnetic interactions. Under these assumptions, we prove transition from a Fermi liquid state to a superconducting state made up of Cooper pairs of electrons at an energy level
Γϕ∼ℏωDe−π/mλ equal to the mass gap, expressed in terms of the Debye frequency
ωD, electron mass
m and coupling constant
λ. The dynamical
U(1)-symmetry breaking produces at energies lower than the energy gap
Γϕ a Goldstone boson, a non-massive particle described by an effective
(2+1)-dimensional non-linear sigma-model, whose parameters and correlations are computed. The proof relies on a mixture of general concepts and tools (multi-scale cluster expansions, Ward identities), adapted to this quantum many-body problem with its extended infra-red singularity located on the Fermi circle, and a specific
1/N-expansion giving the leading diagrams at intermediate energies. Ladder diagrams are proved to provide the leading behavior in the infra-red limit, in agreement with mean-field theory predictions.
We derive upper and lower bounds on the critical temperature
Tc and the energy gap $\ensuremath{\Xi}$ (at zero temperature) for the BCS gap equation, describing spin-
21 fermions interacting via a local two-body interaction potential $\ensuremath{\lambda}V(x)$. At weak coupling $\ensuremath{\lambda}⪡1$ and under appropriate assumptions on
V(x), our bounds show that ${T}_{c}\ensuremath{\sim}A\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}B∕\ensuremath{\lambda})$ and $\ensuremath{\Xi}\ensuremath{\sim}C\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}B∕\ensuremath{\lambda})$ for some explicit coefficients
A,
B, and
C depending on the interaction
V(x) and the chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$. The ratio
A∕C turns out to be a universal constant, independent of both
V(x) and $\ensuremath{\mu}$. Our analysis is valid for any $\ensuremath{\mu}$; for small $\ensuremath{\mu}$, or low density, our formulas reduce to well-known expressions involving the scattering length of
V(x).
It is a remarkable property of BCS theory that the ratio of the energy gap at zero temperature [Formula: see text] and the critical temperature [Formula: see text] is (approximately) given by a universal constant, independent of the microscopic details of the fermionic interaction. This universality has rigorously been proven quite recently in three spatial dimensions and three different limiting regimes: weak coupling, low density and high density. The goal of this short note is to extend the universal behavior to lower dimensions [Formula: see text] and give an exemplary proof in the weak coupling limit.