Enhanced pairing of quantum critical metals near d = 3 + 1
We study the dynamics of a quantum critical boson coupled to a Fermi surface in intermediate energy regimes where the Landau damping of the boson can be parametrically controlled, either via large Fermi velocity or by large- N techniques. We develop a systematic approach to the BCS instability of such systems, including careful treatment of the enhanced log 2 and log 3 singularities which appear already at 1-loop. These singularities arise due to the exchange of a critical boson in the Cooper channel and are absent in Fermi liquid theory. We also treat possible instabilities to charge density wave (CDW) formation, and compare the scales Λ BCS and Λ CDW of the onset of the instabilities in different parametric regimes. We address the question of whether the dressing of the fermions into a non-Fermi liquid via interactions with the order parameter field can happen at energies > Λ BCS , Λ CDW .