Possible superconductivity in the doped ladder compound La1-xSrxCuO2.5

LaCuO2.5 is a system of coupled, two-chain, cuprate ladders which may be do ped systematically by Sr substitution. Motivated by the recent synthesis of single crystals, we investigate theoretically the possibility of supercond uctivity in this compound. We use a model of wpin-fluctuation-mediated supe rconductivity, where the pairing potential is strongly peaked at rr in the ladder direction. We solve the coupled gap equations on the bonding and ant ibonding ladder bands to find superconducting solutions across the range of doping, and discuss their relevance to the real material. [S0031-9007(99)0 9220-0].