Dear Colleagues,

High-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity is a fascinating field in condensed matter physics research, incorporating a tremendous amount of physics within a variety of systems. After almost thirty-five years of research, the origin of high-Tc superconductivity is still not clear. Explaining why the electrons in these materials behave in this prize-winning manner remains, to this day, one of the grand challenges of modern solid-state physics.

In addition to superconductivity, the phase diagram of high-temperature superconductors includes magnetic and charge orders. Understanding the degree to which charge, spin, and superconducting orders compete or coexist is paramount to elucidating the microscopic pairing mechanism in HTSs. 

The conventional BCS theory of superconductivity is based on the Fermi liquid model of electronic states, in which uniformity in real space is assumed and electronic states are characterized entirely by their distribution in reciprocal space. In high-temperature superconductors, the pairing mechanism for superconductivity has been hotly debated as to whether the pairing occurs via the coupling between fermionic quasiparticles and bosonic modes, or whether a bosonic glue is really necessary. In the former type of mechanism, the scenario of electronic coupling to spin fluctuations is the leading contender. Others have argued that spatial inhomogeneity is intrinsic to the hole-doped cuprates and is key to understanding the pairing mechanism. Non-negligible electron–phonon coupling in cuprates and Fe-based superconductors was also revealed in various experiments. Thus, the final identification of the mechanism is complicated.

Dr. Zurab Guguchia
Guest Editor

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• unconventional superconductivity
• pairing symmetry
• spin fluctuation
• electron-lattice interaction
• static charge and spin orders
• vestigial electronic order
• quantum criticality