Kinetic energy driven pairing

TL;DR

This paper investigates the driving mechanism of superconductivity in cuprates, demonstrating that kinetic energy reduction drives pairing, contrasting with conventional superconductors, and explores the evolution from a spin-charge separated state using the Hubbard model.

Contribution

It provides evidence that kinetic energy drives pairing in cuprates and characterizes the evolution of superconductivity from a spin-charge separated state within the Hubbard model.

Findings

Pairing is driven by kinetic energy in cuprates.

Superconductivity evolves from a spin-charge separated state.

The Hubbard model captures this kinetic energy-driven pairing.

Abstract

Pairing occurs in conventional superconductors through a reduction of the electronic potential energy accompanied by an increase in kinetic energy, indicating that the transition is driven by a pairing potential. In the underdoped cuprates, optical experiments show that pairing is driven by a reduction of the electronic kinetic energy. Using the Dynamical Cluster Approximation we study the nature of superconductivity in a microscopic model of the cuprates, the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We find that pairing is indeed driven by the kinetic energy and that superconductivity evolves from an unconventional, spin-charge separated state, consistent with the RVB model of high-temperature superconductors.