Strong-coupling superconductivity beyond BCS and the key pairing interaction in cuprate superconductors

Abstract: It has been now over 20 years since the discovery of the first high temperature superconductor by Georg Bednorz and Alex Mueller in 1986 and yet, despite intensive effort, no universally accepted theory exists about the origin of high-temperature superconductivity. A controversial issue on whether the electron-phonon interaction (EPI) is crucial for high-temperature superconductivity or weak and inessential has been one of the most challenging problems of contemporary condensed matter physics. I briefly review our recent theoretical results, which in conjunction with a great number of experimental observations including isotope effects, angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES), pumpprobe and tunnelling spectroscopies, normal state diamagnetism and magnetic quantum oscillations provide the definite answer to this fundamental question. The true origin of high-temperature superconductivity is found in a significant finite-range Froehlich EPI of nonadibatic polaronic carriers which is beyond the conventional BCS-Migdal-Eliashberg approximation.