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Attractive interaction in BCS theory

Physics Asked by Yarden Sheffer on July 2, 2021

The common way to discuss BCS superconductivity, as I have seen in several books, is to assume that we have a Fermi liquid, on top of which we add an interaction of the form
$$H_{int}=sum_{p,p^prime,q} V(q)psi^dagger_uparrow(-p) psi^dagger_downarrow(-p^prime) psi_downarrow(p^prime+q)psi_uparrow(p-q)$$
The assumption is that as long as $V$ is negative we get a Cooper instability and a condensate will form at low enough temperatures. This doesn’t make sense to me as if $Vpropto 1/q^2$ (in 3D) we just get a correction to the Coulomb interaction and remain with a Fermi liquid.

In that case, what do we actually need to demand on $V(q)$ to get superconductivity? Do we explicitly need a constant term?

One Answer

The origin of the interaction term the phonon exchange between the electrons, so its shape is quite different from the Coulomb interaction. In fact, this attraction dominates at long distances, wheres at short distances the Coulomb repulsion remains dominant, which is why the electrons constituting a cooper pair are usually separated by at least a few lattice distances.

Answered by Roger Vadim on July 2, 2021

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