Polaron signatures in the phonon dispersion of high-temperature superconducting copper oxides

Abstract

High-temperature superconducting copper oxides display a variety of both long-range and local lattice anomalies which are related to the onset of the pseudogap phase and / or the onset of superconductivity. Here we show that these anomalies demonstrate polaron formation where specifically the local character of the polarons plays an important role. We predict that unconventional isotope effects will appear in both the long-wavelength and local lattice effects.