A REALISTIC THEORY FOR THE NORMAL-STATE AND PAIRING MECHANISM IN THE HIGH-T-C CUPRATES

The electronic structure of the high-T-c cuprates is studied on the basis of ''large-U'' and ''small-U'' orbitals. Two types of charge carriers are predicted: (i) spinless polarons with a very small bandwidth; (ii) anomalous carriers of both charge and spin. The results are consistent with many anomalous properties of the cuprates. The spinless polarons undergo a CDW transition, and transitions between pair states of the two types of carriers provide the pairing mechanism.