Influence of phonon renormalization in Eliashberg theory for superconductivity in 2D and 3D systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates how phonon renormalization affects superconductivity in 2D and 3D systems within Eliashberg theory, revealing complex interactions and proposing a scaling law for maximum critical temperature.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of full-bandwidth Eliashberg theory including electron back reaction on phonons and introduces a new scaling law for $T_c^{max}$ based on renormalized parameters.

Findings

Phonon renormalization significantly influences superconducting properties.

A scaling law for maximum $T_c$ involving electron-phonon coupling and phonon softening.

Conditions for optimal electronic structure to enhance $T_c$.

Abstract

Eliashberg's foundational theory of superconductivity is based on the application of Migdal's approximation, which states that vertex corrections to first order electron-phonon scattering are negligible if the ratio between phonon and electron energy scales is small. The resulting theory incorporates the first Feynman diagrams for electron and phonon self-energies. However, the latter is most commonly neglected in numerical analyses. Here we provide an extensive study of full-bandwidth Eliashberg theory in two and three dimensions, where we include the full back reaction of electrons onto the phonon spectrum. We unravel the complex interplay between nesting properties, Fermi surface density of states, renormalized electron-phonon coupling, phonon softening, and superconductivity. We propose furthermore a scaling law for the maximally possible critical temperature $T_c^{\textrm{max}}\propto\lambda (\Omega ) \sqrt{\Omega_0^2-\Omega^2}$ in 2D and 3D systems, which embodies both the renormalized electron-phonon coupling strength $\lambda(\Omega)$ and softened phonon spectrum $\Omega$. Also, we analyze for which electronic structure properties a maximal $T_c$ enhancement can be achieved.