Why the critical temperature of high- Tc cuprate superconductors is so low: The importance of the dynamical vertex structure

Abstract

To fathom the mechanism of high-temperature ($T_{\rm c}$) superconductivity, the dynamical vertex approximation (D$\Gamma$A) is evoked for the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model. After showing that our results well reproduce the cuprate phase diagram with a reasonable $T_{\rm c}$ and dome structure, we keep track of the scattering processes that primarily affect $T_{\rm c}$. We find that local particle-particle diagrams significantly screen the bare interaction at low frequencies, which in turn suppresses antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and hence the pairing interaction. Thus we identify dynamical vertex corrections as one of the main oppressors of $T_{\rm c}$, which may provide a hint toward higher $T_{\rm c}$'s.