Electron-phonon interaction in the strongly correlated systems and its implications on the high Tc cuprates

TL;DR

This paper explores how strong electron correlations in high-temperature cuprate superconductors alter electron-phonon interactions, explaining phenomena like the oxygen isotope effect through a model involving spin-charge separation.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic approach to calculate the dynamical charge of spinons and holons, highlighting their role in electron-phonon coupling in strongly correlated systems.

Findings

Electron-phonon interaction differs fundamentally in strongly correlated systems.

Spinons and holons carry electric charge and couple to phonons.

The model explains the oxygen isotope effect in high Tc superconductors.

Abstract

The theory of electron-phonon interaction in the presence of strong correlation has been investigated in the present work. Due to the so called spin-charge separation, it is argued that the electron-phonon interaction in the strongly interacting systems is fundamentally different from the weakly interacting counterparts. Both spinons and holons are shown to carry electric charge and couple to the electromagnetic field and consequently to phonons. A systematic approach to calculate the dynamical charge of spinons and holons is presented, followed by a discussion of implications of this model for the high temperature superconductors. It is demonstrated that the unusual oxygen isotope effect in high Tc materials can be easily understood within this framework.