Quasi-particles, thermodynamic consistency, and the gap equation (Q1798449)

In the Bogoliubov-Valatin approach, it has been shown that the relevant variables are associated with the energy fluctuations of the system around the Fermi sphere configuration. In the paper under review, by means of a Bogoliubov transformation in these variables, the author establishes the expression of the quasi-particles vacuum energy, which is the fundamental ingredient in the construction of the grand potential for the superconducting electrons. The stationarity condition for the grand potential coincides with the gap equation, which guarantees the thermodynamic consistency. Throughout this paper, the expressions of various thermodynamic potentials are produced in the low temperature limit.