Electronic inhomogeneities, electron-lattice and pairing interactions in high-Tc superconductors

The presence of electronic inhomogeneities strongly reduces the screening of the electron-ion interaction in high-temperature superconductors. This implies the existence of an non-totally screened long-range contribution to the electron-lattice coupling and opens an additional channel for the formation of copper pairs. We calculate the superconducting order parameter taking into account a) the long-range and the short-range parts of the electron-lattice interaction and b) the Coulomb repulsion between charge-carriers. We show that whereas the long-range electron-lattice coupling determines the anisotropy of the order parameter, the Coulomb repulsion and the short-range interactions determine its symmetry. Thus, different high-T-c superconductors may have s- or d-wave symmetry, depending on the relative strength of the interactions involved in the pairing.