Failure of the Migdal-Eliashberg Theory of Superconductivity in Rb_3C_60

Abstract

We discuss the compatibility of the most accurate experimental data with the ordinary Migdal-Eliashberg theory of superconductivity in the fullerene compound Rb_3C_60. By using different model phonon spectra we conclude that the experimental data can be fitted only by invoking an electron-phonon coupling of order \lambda\simeq 3. This exceedingly high value is unphysical and it is not consistent with the basic assumptions of the Migdal-Eliashberg theory. On the contrary, by relaxing the adiabatic hypothesis on which the Migdal-Eliashberg theory rests, the experimental data can be fitted by much more realistic values of \lambda. This generalized theory predicts also characteristic features absent in the Migdal-Eliashberg framework which can be experimentally tested.