Theory of Superconductivity in the Cuprates

Abstract

The quantum critical fluctuations of the time-reversal breaking order parameter which is observed in the pseudogap regime of the Cuprates are shown to couple to the lattice equivalent of the local angular momentum of the fermions. Such a coupling favors scattering of fermions through angles close to $\pm π/2$ which is unambiguously shown to promote d-wave pairing. The right order of magnitude of both $T_c$ and the normalized zero temperature gap $Δ/T_c$ are calculated using the same fluctuations which give the temperature, frequency and momentum dependence of the the anomalous normal state properties for dopings near the quantum-critical value and with two parameters extracted from fit to such experiments.

Accepted for publication in PRB with the title "Theory of the coupling of quantum-critical fluctuations to fermions and d-wave superconductivity in the cuprates"