# Comment on “Superconducting phases in the presence of Coulomb interaction: From weak to strong correlations”

## Abstract

We examine the paper basic equations of T. Domański and K.I. Wysokiński \[Phys. Rev. B 59, 173 (1999)\], who calculated the critical superconducting temperature, $`T_c`$, in function of Coulomb correlations for $`s`$\- and $`d`$–wave order parameter symmetries. We argue that in their gap equation the Coulomb repulsion is counted twice. Then, we write down the right gap equation and solve it by using a normal state one–particle Green function which gives a Mott metal–insulator transition. Our numerical results for $`T_c`$ vs $`U`$ shows that $`U`$ is detrimental to superconductivity as it was found by Domański and Wysokiński.   
Pacs numbers: 74.20.-Fg, 74.10.-z, 74.60.-w, 74.72.-h

In a recent paper, a study of the evolution of the superconducting phases in a model with competing short–range attractive ($`W`$) and on–site ($`U`$) interactions is presented. The authors have evaluated the superconducting critical temperature ($`T_c`$) at the mean field level for the s- and d–wave superconducting order parameter symmetries under the influence of correlations ($`U`$) using several approximations ($`HF`$, second order perturbation theory ($`SOPT`$) and the alloy analogy approximation ($`AAA`$)). We find that:   
1\- Eq. (2) of  counts the Coulomb repulsion twice: once for the normal state one–particle Green function, $`G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)`$, and again for the mean field gap equation. The right expression should be:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_\stackrel{}{k}=\frac{T}{N}\underset{\stackrel{}{q},n}{}\frac{W_{\stackrel{}{q}\stackrel{}{k}}\mathrm{\Delta }_\stackrel{}{q}}{|G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)|^2+|\mathrm{\Delta }_\stackrel{}{q}|^2},$$
(1)   
where $`G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)`$ is the normal state one–particle Green function for which $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\stackrel{}{q}0`$.   
2\- To avoid double counting the Coulomb interaction term we use a $`G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)`$ which gives a metal–insulator transition ($`MIT`$). Therefore, we propose the following academic well behaved $`G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)`$:

$$G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)=\frac{1\rho }{i\omega _n+\mu \epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}}+\frac{\rho }{i\omega _n+\mu \epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}U},$$
(2)   
with a critical value of $`U`$ of $`U_c=2D`$ (the bandwidth). With the use of Eq. (2), the equations for the mean–field superconducting critical temperature, $`T_c`$, and the self–consistent particle density, $`\rho `$, are

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{V}}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{N_s}}{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{}{k}}{}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{(1\rho )^2\mathrm{tanh}\left(\frac{\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu }{2T_c}\right)}{2(\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu )}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\rho ^2\mathrm{tanh}(\frac{\left(\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu +U\right)}{2T_c})}{2(\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu +U)}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\rho (1\rho )\left[\mathrm{tanh}(\frac{\left(\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu +U\right)}{2T_c})+\mathrm{tanh}(\frac{\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu }{2T_c})\right]}{(2(\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu )+U)}}\right].`$ (3)   
and

$`\rho `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2N_s}}{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{}{k}}{}}\left[1\left(1\rho \right)\mathrm{tanh}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu }{2T_c}}\right)\rho \mathrm{tanh}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\epsilon _\stackrel{}{k}\mu +U}{2T_c}}\right)\right],`$ (4)   
from where we recuperate $`T_c^{BCS}`$ when $`U/W=0`$. We have chosen a flat free density of states, i.e., $`N_L(ϵ)=1/2D`$ for $`Dϵ+D`$ and zero otherwise. Let us say that Eq. (2) is the exact solution of the normal state Hamiltonian $`H_U`$ and the perturbation part is the attractive interaction between Cooper pairs, $`Vf(\stackrel{}{k})`$ in our case. The case of $`V=f(\stackrel{}{k})`$ will not be discussed here. Thus, our full Hamiltonian can be written as

$$H=H_U+H_V.$$
(5)   
From Eq. (5) we conclude that the perturbation is $`H_V`$, i.e., we can use a mean field analysis to the second term of Eq. (5). In other words, one knows the “exact” solution of $`H_U`$ and our problem at hand is to calculate the solution of the full Hamiltonian $`H`$. Then, the normal state one–particle Green function must be valid for any value of $`U`$. Because of this, Eq. (1) is fully justified. Under these circunstances, it would be an error to perform mean field approximation on both $`U`$ and $`W_\stackrel{}{q}`$.   
In Fig. 1 we present $`T_c`$ vs $`U`$ for several values of $`V`$. In (a) $`\mu =0.25(U/2)`$; (b) $`\mu =0.50(U/2)`$; (c) $`\mu =0.75(U/2)`$ and (d) $`\mu =1.0(U/2)`$. For $`\mu =U/2`$ we are at half–filling. We have chosen $`2D=1.0`$. From Fig. 1 we observe that there is critical value of $`U`$ beyond which $`T_c`$ is zero. This clearly shows that the Coulomb interaction (correlations) conspire against superconductivity. These results agree with the ones found in Ref.. Our calculations have been performed assuming that the Hartree shift due to Cooper pairing, $`\rho V`$, is the same both in the normal and superconducting phases. This is the reason that we have not renormalized the chemical potential with the pairing interaction. Our approximation (Eq. (2)) is an academic one because the weights of the spectral functions of $`G_N(\stackrel{}{k},i\omega _n)`$ are not $`\stackrel{}{k}`$–dependent (they are $`\alpha _1(\stackrel{}{k})=1\rho `$ and $`\alpha _2(\stackrel{}{k})=\rho `$, respectively). However, other approximations, besides the ones used in Ref. and our Eq. (2), can be employed, for example the one of Nolting which gives a metal–insulating transition if the band narrowing factor term, $`B(\stackrel{}{k})`$, is properly treated. For high values of $`|V|`$ we should take into account the effect of superconducting pair fluctuations as it has been done by Schmid and others.   
In conclusion we have justified our gap equation (Eq. (1). See also Eq. (5)) which modifies Eq. (2) of Ref.. By proposing Eq. (1) we avoid doubling counting of the Coulomb interaction ($`U`$). At the same time, we have used a normal state one–particle Green function (Eq. (2)) which yields the metal–insulator transition. Also, we have presented results of $`T_c`$ vs $`U`$ for several values of $`V`$ and of $`\mu =\alpha (U/2)`$, where $`\alpha =0.25`$; $`0.50`$; $`0.75`$ and $`1.00`$. The present results agree with the conclusions of Ref. that correlations conspire against superconductivity.   

Acknowledgements   
We thank Prof. Sergio Garcia Magalhães for interesting discussions. The authors thank partial support from FAPERGS–Brasil, CONICIT–Venezuela (Project F-139), CNPq–Brasil.

Figure Captions   

Figure 1. $`T_c`$ vs $`U`$, for different values of $`V`$, i.e., $`V=0.50`$; $`1.00`$; $`1.50`$ and $`2.00`$. (a) $`\mu =0.25(U/2)`$; (b) $`\mu =0.50(U/2)`$; (c) $`\mu =0.75(U/2)`$; and (d) $`\mu =1.00(U/2)`$.