Qualitative model of high-$T_c$ superconductivity

Abstract

We suggest a qualitative model of a high-Tc superconductor, based on considerations of thermodynamics of phase transitions. As an example, we consider the Mott transition and classify 5 solid phases around it. In our model, a combined electronic and structural instability causes segregation into either neutral or charged phases. A charged precipitate with a quantized electric charge is a collective excitation of electrons, stabilized by a collective athermal displacement of ions; this local variation of the charge density, accompanied by a local lattice deformation, can behave as a quasiparticle. A condensate of charged bosonic quasiparticles is responsible for the superconductivity.