ANOMALIES IN SPECIFIC HEAT: THE INFLUENCE OF SPIN FLUCTUATIONS AND SUPERCONDUCTIVITY IN CUPRATES

Abstract

We report here a microscopic theory of the temperature dependence of specific heat in high-Tc cuprate superconductors. The system is described by a model Hamiltonian consisting the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations due to the impurity f-electrons as well as the conduction electrons, besides the superconducting interaction due to the itinerant electrons. The Hamiltonian is treated within a mean-field approach. The transverse spin fluctuation parameters and the superconducting gap are calculated by Zubarev's Green's function technique and solved self-consistently. The temperature dependent specific heat is calculated from the free energy in order to study the anomalies appearing at the spin fluctuation and superconducting transition temperatures. The evolutions of these anomalies are studied by varying the model parameters of the systems and results are discussed in reference to experimental observations.