English

A new basis set for the description of electrons in superconductors

Superconductivity 2010-01-11 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Abstract

In the usual description of electrons in metals and superconductors, the single electron states are assumed to satisfy Bloch's theorem. This is because the electron-ion interaction is privileged over the electron-electron interaction. However the theory of hole superconductivity proposes that in the transition to superconductivity carriers `undress' from the electron-ion interaction. I propose here a new basis set to describe electrons in the superconducting state that does not satisfy Bloch's theorem but instead is designed to optimize the electron-electron interaction. The new basis set favors a superconducting state where a spin current exists and where states near the bottom of the band become partially occupied, as predicted by the theory of hole superconductivity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1001.1343,
  title  = {A new basis set for the description of electrons in superconductors},
  author = {J. E. Hirsch},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1001.1343},
  year   = {2010}
}