Strongly correlated superconductivity and Mott transition

Whether the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ intercepts or merges with the superconducting dome is one of the key questions in the field of high-temperature superconductors. We study the normal and the d-wave superconducting phases at finite temperature in the two-dimensional Hubbard model within cellular dynamical mean-field theory and continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo. Above the critical value for the Mott transition, the superconducting $T_c$ has a dome-like shape as a function of doping. The pseudogap temperature $T^*$ intercepts the superconducting dome. Removing superconductivity, one finds that in the normal state, $T^*$ ends at a finite-doping first-order transition that occurs at temperatures below the superconducting dome. That first order transition between a pseudogap metal and a strongly correlated metal is linked to the Mott transition at half-filling. Refs: G. Sordi et al., PRL 104, 226402 (2010); G. Sordi et al., PRB 84, 075161 (2011); G. Sordi et al., arXiv:1110.1392 (2011).