Quasi-Particles and Gauge Invariance in the Theory of Superconductivity

Ideas and techniques known in quantum electrodynamics have been applied to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity. In an approximation which corresponds to a generalization of the Hartree-Fock fields, one can write down an integral equation defining the self-energy of an electron in an electron gas with phonon and Coulomb interaction. The form of the equation implies the existence of a particular solution which does not follow from perturbation theory, and which leads to the energy gap equation and the quasi-particle picture analogous to Bogoliubov's.

The gauge invariance, to the first order in the external electromagnetic field, can be maintained in the quasi-particle picture by taking into account a certain class of corrections to the chargecurrent operator due to the phonon and Coulomb interaction. In fact, generalized forms of the Ward identity are obtained between certain vertex parts and the self-energy. The Meissner effect calculation is thus rendered strictly gauge invariant, but essentially keeping the BCS result unaltered for transverse fields.

It is shown also that the integral equation for vertex parts allows homogeneous solutions which describe collective excitations of quasi-particle pairs, and the nature and effects of such collective states are discussed.