Dynamical Cooper pairing in non-equilibrium electron-phonon systems

Ultrafast laser pulses have been used to manipulate complex quantum materials and to induce dynamical phase transitions. One of the most striking examples is the transient enhancement of superconductivity in several classes of materials upon irradiating them with high intensity pulses of terahertz light. Motivated by these experiments we analyze the Cooper pairing instabilities in non-equilibrium electron-phonon systems and demonstrate that the light induced non-equilibrium state of phonons results in an enhancement of Cooper pairing. This opens the possibility of transient light induced superconductivity at temperatures that are considerably higher than the equilibrium transition temperature