New interpretation for energy gap $\Delta$ of the cut-off approximation in the BCS theory of superconductivity

Abstract

This paper concerns the solution of the self-consistency equation for energy gap parameter $\Delta_{\bf k}$ in the BCS theory of superconductivity. We show that there exists a well-defined relation between the solution for energy gap parameter amplitude $|\Delta_{\bf k}|$ for a general interaction $V_{{\bf k},{\bf k}'}$ and energy gap $\Delta$ obtained by using the cut-off approximation. The relation between $|\Delta_{\bf k}|$ and $\Delta$ indicates that $\Delta$ is a weighted average over $|\Delta_{\bf k}|$ of electronic states within cut-off energy $\xi_c$ around the Fermi surface. In this interpretation for $\Delta$, $\xi_c$ is not a property of $V_{{\bf k},{\bf k}'}$, but a parameter specifying the energy range within which the weighted average over $|\Delta_{\bf k}|$ is taken. We show that the proper choice for the value of $\xi_c$ is only a few $k_BT_c$ (i.e., $\xi_c/k_BT_c$ is about 3 or 4). We also show that the cut-off approximation, even with $\xi_c/k_BT_c=\infty$, is a good approximation when it is used to calculate quantities such as the condensation energy and the specific heat, but it leads to significant overestimation for the Josephson critical current density of a Josephson junction if $\xi_c/k_BT_c \gg 1$ is assumed.