The normal state of strongly coupled superconductors is characterized by the presence of “preformed” Cooper pairs well above the superconducting critical temperature. In this regime, the electrons are paired, but they lack the phase coherence necessary for superconductivity. The existence of preformed pairs implies the existence of a characteristic energy scale associated with a pseudogap. Preformed pairs are often invoked to interpret systems where some signatures of pairing are present without actual superconductivity, but an unambiguous theoretical characterization of a preformed-pair system is still lacking. To fill this gap, we consider the response to an external pairing field of an attractive Hubbard model, which hosts one of the cleanest realizations of a preformed pair phase, and a repulsive model where s-wave superconductivity cannot be realized. Using dynamical mean-field theory to study this response, we identify the characteristic features which distinguish the reaction of a preformed pair state from a normal metal without any precursor of pairing. The theoretical detection of preformed pairs is associated with the behavior of the second derivative of the order parameter with respect to the external field, as confirmed by analytic calculations in limiting cases. Our findings provide a solid test bed for the interpretation of state-of-the-art calculations for the normal state of the doped Hubbard model in terms of d-wave preformed pairs and, in perspective, of nonequilibrium experiments in high-temperature superconductors.
