# Solution of real-axis Eliashberg equations with different pair symmetries and tunneling density of states

## Abstract

The real-axis direct solution of the Eliashberg equations for the retarded electron-boson interaction in the half-filling case and in the presence of impurities is obtained for six different symmetries of the order parameter: $`s`$, $`s+\mathrm{i}d`$, $`s+d`$, $`d`$, $`anisotropic`$-$`s`$ and $`extended`$-$`s`$. The spectral function is assumed to contain an isotropic part $`\alpha _{is}^2F\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)`$ and an anisotropic one $`\alpha _{an}^2F\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)`$ such that $`\alpha _{is}^2F\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)=g\alpha _{an}^2F\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)`$, where $`g`$ is a constant, and the Coulomb pseudopotential $`\mu ^{}`$ is set to zero for simplicity. The density of states is calculated for each symmetry at $`T=2,4,40`$ and $`80`$ K. The resulting curves are compared to those obtained by analytical continuation of the imaginary-axis solution of the Eliashberg equations and to the experimental tunneling curves of optimally-doped Bi 2212 crystals.

In this paper, we make use of the Migdal-Eliashberg theory  for the strong electron-boson coupling to discuss the effect of different possible symmetries of the order parameter  on the tunneling curves of copper-oxide superconductors. Because of the layered structure of these materials, we can suppose the quasiparticle wavevectors $`𝐤`$ and $`𝐤^{}`$ to lie in the CuO<sub>2</sub> plane and call $`\varphi `$ and $`\varphi ^{}`$ their azimuthal angles in this plane. Then we solve the Eliashberg equations (EE) using a single-band approximation with a nearly-circular Fermi line. In the real-axis formalism the EE take the form of a set of coupled integral equations for the order parameter $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\omega ,\varphi )`$ and the renormalization function $`Z(\omega ,\varphi )`$, containing the retarded interaction $`\alpha ^2(\mathrm{\Omega },\varphi ,\varphi ^{})F(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ and the Coulomb pseudopotential $`\mu ^{}(\varphi ,\varphi ^{})`$ .

We hypothesize that the two last quantities contain an $`isotropic`$ and an $`anisotropic`$ part  and we expand both of them in terms of basis functions. Actually, even though we are able to solve the EE for an arbitrary constant value of $`\mu ^{}`$, we put it to zero for simplicity. The spectral function expanded at the lowest order is then expressed by: $`\alpha ^2(\mathrm{\Omega },\varphi ,\varphi ^{})F(\mathrm{\Omega })`$=$`\alpha _{is}^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })\psi _{is}\left(\varphi \right)\psi _{is}\left(\varphi ^{}\right)`$ +$`\alpha _{an}^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)\psi _{an}\left(\varphi ^{}\right)`$ where the basis functions $`\psi _{is}\left(\varphi \right)`$ and $`\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)`$ are chosen as follows: $`\psi _{is}\left(\varphi \right)`$=1; $`\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)`$=$`\sqrt{2}\mathrm{cos}\left(2\varphi \right)`$ for the $`d`$-wave, $`\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)`$=$`8\sqrt{2/35}\mathrm{cos}^4\left(2\varphi \right)`$ for the $`anisotropic`$-$`s`$, and $`\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)`$=$`2\sqrt{2/3}\mathrm{cos}^2\left(2\varphi \right)`$ for the $`extended`$-$`s`$ . For simplicity again, we suppose that $`\alpha _{an}^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })`$=$`g\alpha _{is}^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ where $`g`$ is a constant . Thus, the electron-boson coupling constants for the $`isotropic`$-wave channel and the $`anisotropic`$-wave one, which are given by $`\lambda _{is,an}`$= $`(1/\pi )_0^{2\pi }d\varphi \psi _{is,an}^2(\varphi )_0^+\mathrm{}d\mathrm{\Omega }\alpha _{is,an}^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })/\mathrm{\Omega }`$, result to be proportional: $`\lambda _{an}`$=$`g\lambda _{is}`$.

We are interested in solutions of the real-axis EE of the form: $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\omega ,\varphi )`$=$`\mathrm{\Delta }_{is}(\omega )`$+$`\mathrm{\Delta }_{an}(\omega )\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)`$ and $`Z(\omega ,\varphi )`$=$`Z_{is}(\omega )`$+$`Z_{an}(\omega )\psi _{an}\left(\varphi \right)`$. The equations are reported explicitly elsewhere . Here we suppose $`Z_{an}(\omega )`$ to be identically zero .

The numerical solution of the real-axis EE is performed by using an iterative procedure. In view of a comparison to the experimental tunneling curves obtained in Bi 2212 break junctions, we take $`\alpha _{is}^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })`$=$`(\lambda _{is}/\lambda _{\mathrm{Bi2212}})\alpha ^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })_{\mathrm{Bi2212}}`$ , where $`\alpha ^2F(\mathrm{\Omega })_{\mathrm{Bi2212}}`$ has been experimentally determined in a previous paper  and rescaled to have $`T_c`$=97 K. Once determined $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\omega ,\varphi )`$ and $`Z(\omega ,\varphi )`$, we calculate the quasiparticle density of states $`N(\omega )`$= $`\left(1/2\pi \right)_0^{2\pi }d\varphi \mathrm{Re}\left(\omega /\sqrt{\omega ^2\mathrm{\Delta }(\omega ,\varphi )^2}\right)`$, whose convolution integral with the Fermi distribution is the quantity that must be compared to the experimental tunneling data. Incidentally, the explicit solution shows that the symmetry of $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\omega ,\varphi )`$ is affected by the choice of the coupling constants $`\lambda _{is}`$ and $`\lambda _{an}`$ and, for some particular values of $`\lambda _{is}`$ and $`\lambda _{an}`$, by the starting values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{is}(\omega )`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{an}(\omega )`$.

The figure reports the theoretical normalized conductance at $`T`$=4 K in the six symmetries analyzed and the Bi 2212 experimental data obtained in break-junction tunneling experiments . The $`d`$-wave curve gives the best fit of the peak at the gap edge and of the conductance behaviour inside the gap, suggesting that the symmetry of Bi 2212 could be pure $`d`$-wave. Nevertheless, none of the symmetries studied here is able to give, at the same time, $`T_c`$=92-94 K and a peak at 35-41.5 meV, as experimentally observed by STM on Bi 2212 and recently reported in literature .

The same theoretical curves have also been obtained at $`T`$=2, 40 and 80 K. The $`anisotropic`$-$`s`$ and $`extended`$-$`s`$ curves are highly temperature-dependent, and some fine structures evidenced at $`T`$=2 K are already indistinguishable at 4 K. For $`TT_c/3`$ it is practically impossible to distinguish between $`d`$-wave and mixed symmetries, while the $`s`$-wave curve remains clearly distinct.

The curves at $`T`$=2 K can be compared to those obtained by analytically continuing the imaginary-axis solutions $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\mathrm{i}\omega _n)`$ and $`Z(\mathrm{i}\omega _n)`$. In general, at this low temperature, the analytical continuation gives a *reasonable agreement* with the real-axis solutions. The agreement is satisfactory for the $`s+\mathrm{i}d`$, $`d`$, $`anisotropic`$-$`s`$ cases, and becomes a little worse in the $`extended`$-$`s`$ case. The imaginary-axis $`s`$-wave curve is instead markedly shifted (of about 3 meV) toward higher energies, and then is unable to approximate the real-axis solution. In the ($`s+d`$)-wave symmetry, even the shape of the curve is heavily different in the two cases .

Finally, we have studied the effect of *non-magnetic impurities* on the tunneling density of states by solving the appropriate real-axis EE . We have found that this effect is greater on the $`d`$-wave component of the order parameter. A small amount of impurities in the unitary limit gives rise to a zero bias in the $`d`$-curve, and then improves its agreement with our experimental points . In the non-unitary case, the $`d`$-curve peak is further lowered, broadened and shifted leftward. In the same conditions, all the mixed-symmetry curves are modified in non-trivial ways, e.g. the $`s+\mathrm{i}d`$ and the $`anisotropic`$-$`s`$ curves become practically indistinguishable from the $`s`$-wave one, but are shifted toward lower energies. Finally, the $`s`$-wave curve is nearly unaffected by this kind of impurities, apart from a small shift of the gap toward higher energies.