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12 - Superconductivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2013

Radi A. Jishi
Affiliation:
California State University, Los Angeles
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Summary

False friends are common. Yes, but where True nature links a friendly pair, The blessing is as rich as rare.

-From the Panchatantra Translated by Arthur W. Ryder

The magnet of their course is gone, or only points in vain The shore to which their shiver'd sail shall never stretch again.

-Lord Byron, Youth and Age

Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by H. Kamerlingh Onnes soon after he succeeded in liquefying helium (Onnes, 1911). He observed that the resistivity of mercury dropped suddenly as its temperature was lowered below a certain critical value TC (for Hg, TC = 4.2 K). Over the years, it was found that many additional elements and compounds similarly transition to a superconducting state. In this state, materials exhibit properties that are strikingly different from the normal state. Below we discuss the most important features of superconductors.

Properties of superconductors

The first important property of a material that undergoes a superconducting transition is that its resistivity drops to zero belowa critical temperature (see Figure 12.1). In a superconducting ring, a persistent electric current flows without any observable attenuation for as long as one is willing to watch.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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  • Superconductivity
  • Radi A. Jishi, California State University, Los Angeles
  • Book: Feynman Diagram Techniques in Condensed Matter Physics
  • Online publication: 05 April 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139177771.013
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  • Superconductivity
  • Radi A. Jishi, California State University, Los Angeles
  • Book: Feynman Diagram Techniques in Condensed Matter Physics
  • Online publication: 05 April 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139177771.013
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Superconductivity
  • Radi A. Jishi, California State University, Los Angeles
  • Book: Feynman Diagram Techniques in Condensed Matter Physics
  • Online publication: 05 April 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139177771.013
Available formats
×