Title: On the application of Mattis-Bardeen theory in strongly disordered superconductors,
Abstract: The low energy optical conductivity of conventional superconductors is
usually well described by Mattis-Bardeen (MB) theory which predicts the onset
of absorption above an energy corresponding to twice the superconducing (SC)
gap parameter Delta. Recent experiments on strongly disordered superconductors
have challenged the application of the MB formulas due to the occurrence of
additional spectral weight at low energies below 2Delta. Here we identify three
crucial items which have to be included in the analysis of optical-conductivity
data for these systems: (a) the correct identification of the optical threshold
in the Mattis-Bardeen theory, and its relation with the gap value extracted
from the measured density of states, (b) the gauge-invariant evaluation of the
current-current response function, needed to account for the optical absorption
by SC collective modes, and (c) the inclusion into the MB formula of the energy
dependence of the density of states present already above Tc. By computing the
optical conductvity in the disordered attractive Hubbard model we analyze the
relevance of all these items, and we provide a compelling scheme for the
analysis and interpretation of the optical data in real materials.