Two-dimensional Bose-Einstein Condensation in Cuprate Superconductors

Abstract

Transition temperatures $T_c$ calculated using the BCS model electron-phonon interaction without any adjustable parameters agree with empirical values for quasi-2D cuprate superconductors. They follow from a two-dimensional gas of temperature-dependent Cooper pairs in chemical and thermal equilibrium with unpaired fermions in a boson-fermion (BF) statistical model as the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) singularity temperature is approached from above. The {\it linear} (as opposed to quadratic) boson dispersion relation due to the Fermi sea yields substantially higher $T_c$'s with the BF model than with BCS or pure-boson BEC theories.

7 pages including 2 figures