First-Order Pairing Transition and Single-Particle Spectral Function in the Attractive Hubbard Model

A Dynamical Mean Field Theory analysis of the attractive Hubbard model is carried out. We focus on the normal state upon restricting to solutions where superconducting order is not allowed. Nevertheless a clear first-order pairing transition as a function of the coupling takes place at all the electron densities out of half-filling. The transition occurs between a Fermi liquid, stable for $U<U_c$, and an insulating bound pairs phase for $U>U_c$. The spectral function in the Fermi liquid phase is constituted by a low energy structure around the Fermi level (similar to the Kondo resonance of the repulsive half-filled model), which disappears discontinuously at $U=U_c$, and two high energy features (lower and upper Hubbard bands), which persist in the insulating phase.