Comments on the d-wave pairing mechanism for cuprate high $T_c$ superconductors: Higher is different?

TL;DR

This paper reviews the debate on whether cuprate high-temperature superconductors are mediated by spin fluctuations or pre-formed pairs, emphasizing the role of ARPES in determining the pairing mechanism.

Contribution

It discusses how ARPES can be used to analyze self-energies to distinguish between different pairing glue theories in cuprates.

Findings

ARPEs can reveal the frequency and momentum dependence of self-energies.

A simple d-wave BCS theory can describe cuprate superconducting properties.

Remaining problems in identifying the pairing mechanism are discussed.

Abstract

The question of pairing glue for the cuprate superconductors (SC)is revisited and its determination through the angle resolved photo-emission spectroscopy (ARPES) is discussed in detail. There are two schools of thoughts about the pairing glue question: One argues that superconductivity in the cuprates emerges out of doping the spin singlet resonating valence bond (RVB) state. Since singlet pairs are already formed in the RVB state there is no need for additional boson glue to pair the electrons. The other instead suggests that the d-wave pairs are mediated by the collective bosons like the conventional low $T_c$ SC with the alteration that the phonons are replaced by another kind of bosons ranging from the antiferromagnetic (AF) to loop current fluctuations. An approach to resolve this dispute is to determine the frequency and momentum dependences of the diagonal and off-diagonal self-energies directly from experiments like the McMillan-Rowell procedure for the conventional SC. In that a simple d-wave BCS theory describes superconducting properties of the cuprates well, the Eliashberg analysis of well designed high resolution experimental data will yield the crucial frequency and momentum dependences of the self-energies. This line of approach using ARPES are discussed in more detail in this review, and some remaining problems are commented.