Boosting electron-phonon scattering through electronic correlations

April 8, 2026

In contrast to common expectations, we have shown that, under certain conditions, the coupling between electrons and phonons can be significantly enhanced by electronic correlations.
Such an unexpected enhancement of electron-phonon scattering could, in principle, allow the realization of phonon-driven superconductivity at higher temperatures than previously thought and, at the same time, allow for a more complete understanding of certain superconductors (for instance, the iron-based ones, which have relatively high critical temperatures but for which a definitive theory is still lacking).

Publication

E. Moghadas1, M. Reitner1, T. Wehling2, G. Sangiovanni3, S. Ciuchi4, and A. Toschi1, Effective Enhancement of the Electron-Phonon Coupling Driven by Nonperturbative Electronic Density Fluctuations, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 126502 (2026)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ld8v-qpf8