Eliashberg theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity — When it is valid and how it breaks down

We analyze the validity of Eliashberg theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity in 2D systems in light of recent extensive Monte-Carlo studies of the Holstein model. Conventional wisdom says that Eliashberg theory is applicable as long as vertex corrections remain small. For small ratio of the phonon energy Ω₀ and the Fermi energy E_F, this condition is supposed to hold even when the dimensionless electron–phonon coupling λ is larger than one, i.e., in the strong coupling regime. A comparison between various quantities computed in the Migdal approximation and those computed by Quantum Monte Carlo prove that this belief is wrong, and we identify analytically some of the ways in which this breakdown occurs for various “normal state” properties at λ=λ_cr, where λ_cr=O(1). The breakdown occurs at temperatures high enough that neither superconducting nor charge–density wave correlations extend over any significant range of distances, so it cannot be associated with the onset of an instability toward any of the relevant ordered ground-states — rather it is associated with the local physics of classical bipolaron formation. Still, we show that certain properties, including the superconducting T_c and the superconducting gap structure below T_c, can be accurately inferred from the strong-coupling limit of Eliashberg theory at λ≤λ_cr.