Tag Archives: Cooper pairs

65 years of the BCS theory

Posted on July 31, 2022 by VM

Thanks to an arithmetic mistake, I thought 2022 was the 75th anniversary of the invention (or discovery?) of the BCS theory of superconductivity. It’s really the 65th anniversary, but since I’d worked myself up to write about it, I’m going … Continue reading →

Posted in Scicomm, Science | Tagged BCS theory, Bi-2212, conventional superconductors, Cooper pairs, superconductivity | Leave a comment

Physicists observe long-expected helium superfluid phase

Posted on January 2, 2022 by VM

Physicists have reported that they have finally observed helium 3 existing in a long-predicted type of superfluid, called the ß phase. This is an important discovery, if it’s borne out, for reasons that partly have to do with its isotope, helium 4. … Continue reading →

Posted in Scicomm | Tagged Anthony Leggett, BCS theory, Cooper pairs, helium 3 A phase, helium 3 ß phase, helium 3 P phase, helium 3 superfluidity, helium 4, helium-3, nematic aerogel, neutron stars, superconductivity, symmetry-breaking, Vladimir Dmitriev | Leave a comment

The awesome limits of superconductors

Posted on July 5, 2020 by VM

On June 24, a press release from CERN said that scientists and engineers working on upgrading the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had “built and operated … the most powerful electrical transmission line … to date”. The transmission line consisted of … Continue reading →

Posted in Scicomm | Tagged Abrikosov vortex lattice, Abrikosov vortices, BCS theory, Bose-Einstein condensate, CERN, Cooper pairs, copper, electrical conductivity, electrical resistivity, electrons, flux-flow resistance, Joule heating, Large Hadron Collider, Lisa Randall, magnesium diboride, magnetic flux, Meissner effect, niobium, Pauli's exclusion principle, Praveen Chaddah, protons, silver, superconductors, superfluid helium, titanium, type I superconductors, type II superconductors, vortex pinning | Leave a comment

Superconductivity: From Feshbach to Fermi

Posted on August 30, 2012 by VM

(This post is continued from this one.) After a bit of searching on Wikipedia, I found that the fundamental philosophical underpinnings of superconductivity were to be found in a statistical concept called the Feshbach resonance. If I had to teach … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1-2-3 superconductors, absolute zero, BCS theory, Bose-Einstein condensates, Cooper pairs, crystal lattice, Fermi energy, Fermi-Dirac statistics, Feshbach resonance, Meissner effect, Pauli's exclusion principle, phonons, superconductivity | Leave a comment

Getting started on superconductivity

Posted on August 23, 2012 by VM

After the hoopla surrounding and attention on particle physics subsided, I realized that I’d been riding a speeding wagon all the time. All I’d done is used the lead-up to (the search for the Higgs boson) and the climax itself … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged condensed matter physics, Cooper pairs, Electromagnetism, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Large Hadron Collider, Leon Cooper, Lorentz force, superconductivity | Leave a comment