  A scenario is presented, in which the presence of a quantum critical point
due to formation of incommensurate charge density waves accounts for the basic
features of the high temperature superconducting cuprates, both in the normal
and in the superconducting states. Specifically, the singular interaction
arising close to this charge-driven quantum critical point gives rise to the
non-Fermi liquid behavior universally found at optimal doping. This interaction
is also responsible for d-wave Cooper pair formation with a superconducting
critical temperature strongly dependent on doping in the overdoped region and
with a plateau in the optimally doped region. In the underdoped region a
temperature dependent pairing potential favors local pair formation without
superconducting coherence, with a peculiar temperature dependence of the
pseudogap and a non-trivial relation between the pairing temperature and the
gap itself. This last property is in good qualitative agreement with so far
unexplained features of the experiments.
