Superconductivity in Jellium Model Revisited

Abstract: We reanalyze superconductivity in jellium model within the dielectric formalism developed by Kirzhnits, Maksimov, and Khomskii (KMK), which is probably the most reliable approach to this model. The linearized KMK integral equation for superconducting transition temperature is analyzed analytically and solved numerically by direct diagonalization to obtain $T_c$ dependence on Wigner - Seitz radius $r_s$. As a first systematic extension beyond random - phase approximation (RPA), static Hubbard local - field corrections are incorporated into the dielectric function. Our results in general narrow the interval of possible $T_c$ values in comparison with widely scattered results of some of the previous works. For the case of metallic hydrogen our calculations show $T_c(r_s)$ dependence with characteristic dome with maximum of $T_c$ at $r_s\sim$ 9.0 of the order of some fractions of Kelvin only, despite the naive expectations based on the high values of pairing Boson frequency. This is due to the weak - coupling regime of superconductivity in jellium model at all densities.