Subject: High-temperature superconductivity near a quantum critical point

Refreshments to be served outside Keller 3-210 after the colloquium.

The elucidation of high-temperature superconductivity remains a fundamental challenge in quantum many-body physics, with potential implications for the development of unique technological applications. In contrast to conventional superconductors, the attractive interaction between the electrons mediated by the lattice cannot explain the formation of this quantum state of matter. Experimentally, however, high-temperature superconductivity is often observed in the vicinities of a putative zero-temperature phase transition, also known as a quantum critical point. In this talk, I will present new theoretical results for the superconducting instability of a very general model in which electrons interact by exchanging fluctuations associated with a magnetic quantum critical point. By combining numerical and analytical approaches, I will discuss the microscopic mechanisms that promote the emergence of a high-temperature superconducting state, and examine which of the many system’s parameters may be tuned to help achieving even higher transition temperatures.