Collective mode across the BCS-BEC crossover in Holstein model

Abstract

We investigate the emergence of the collective mode in the phonon spectra of the superconducting state within the Holstein model by varying the electron-phonon coupling. Using dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) combined with the numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique, we calculate the phonon spectra. In the superconducting state with a pairing gap ($\Delta_P$), the peak position of the collective mode ($\omega_{col}$) evolves from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) regime, manifesting near $2\Delta_P$ and increasing with coupling, to the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) regime, where $\omega_{col}$ decreases with increasing coupling. The decrease of $\omega_{col}$ matches well with the reduction of superfluid stiffness, which originates from the increasing phase fluctuations of local pairs with coupling strength. In the crossover regime with intermediate coupling, $\omega_{col}$ aligns with the soft phonon mode ($\omega_s$) of the normal state and decreases with increasing coupling when $\omega_s < 2\Delta_P$. Additionally, comparing the collective mode weight to $\Delta_P$ suggests that the collective mode predominantly stems from U(1) gauge symmetry breaking across all coupling strengths.