COLLECTIVE CHARGE-TRANSPORT IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

It is argued that the low energy physics of high temperature superconductors is governed by the scattering of mobile holes from local collective modes consisting of charge stripes and antiphase spin domains, as suggested by the competition between phase separation and the long range Coulomb force. Normal state charge transport is given by a paraconductivity associated with a non standard composite Frohlich-BCS pairing. In the ordered state, the order parameter is s-wave for tetragonal materials but, in other materials, there is a substantial mixing of d-wave via an unusual amplification of local or global asymmetry.