Related papers: My friend Alex M\"uller
This paper has been submitted to Science. It summarizes the experimental evidence for (and against) the interlayer theory. It was delayed in posting by clerical error.
Despite being the oldest known superconductor, solid mercury is mysteriously absent from all current computational databases of superconductors. In this work, we present a critical study of its superconducting properties based on…
Soon after the discovery of the first high temperature superconductor by Georg Bednorz and Alex Mueller in 1986 the late Sir Nevill Mott answering his own question "Is there an explanation?" [Nature v 327 (1987) 185] expressed a view that…
In several superconductors above the superconducting transition temperature Tc, the electrical resistivity is of the form {\rho} =AT^2. We show that there exists an empirical relation between Tc and A when both vary with an external…
It has long been a challenge to describe the origin of unconventional superconductivity. The two known examples with high Tc, based on iron and copper, have very different electronic structures, while other materials with similar electronic…
Based on the recent developed real-space picture of superconductivity, we study the stability of the superconducting vortex lattices in layered superconductors. It is shown that the effective c-axis lattice constant play a significant role…
Seven distinct families of superconductors with critical temperatures at ambient pressure that equal or surpass the historic 23 K limit for Nb3Ge have been discovered in the last 25 years. Each family is reviewed briefly and their common…
In contrast to multigap superconductors (e.g. MgB$_{2}$), the low-temperature properties of nodal superconductors are dominated by nodal excitations. Here we extend for a variety of nodal superocnductors the earlier work by Simon and Lee…
In the last years ample experimental evidence has shown that charge carriers in high-temperature superconductors are strongly correlated but also coupled with lattice vibrations (phonons), signaling that the true origin of high-Tc…
Introducing the generalized, non-extensive statistics proposed by Tsallis[1988], into the standard s-wave pairing BCS theory of superconductivity in 2D yields a reasonable description of many of the main properties of high temperature…
For unconventional heavy Fermion superconductors, typified by UBe_13, the superconducting transition temperatures Tc are shown to correlate with a characteristic energy hbar^2 /(m* xi^2), m* being the effective mass and xi the coherence…
Superconductivity (SC) was experimentally observed for the first time in antimony polyhydride. The diamond anvil cell combined with laser heating system was used to synthesize the antimony polyhydride sample at high pressure and high…
I discuss various direct calculations of the properties of the one-band Hubbard model on a square lattice and conclude that these properties sufficiently resemble those of the cuprate superconductors that no more complicated interactions…
A model of superconductivity in layered high-temperature superconducting cuprates is proposed, based on the extended saddle point singularities in the electron spectrum, weak screening of the Coulomb interaction and phonon-mediated…
On the occasion of centenary of superconductivity discovery I remind some facts from the first period and attempts to understand the phenomenon. It turns out that most famous physicists of the first half of XX century have tried to solve…
We show that prominent features in voltage-current characteristics, recently measured in the mixed state of high-Tc superconductors and interpreted as evidence for an irreversibility line or a vortex-glass transition, may very well be…
Nine years ago, superconductors based on the magnetic element iron were discovered. A flurry of research activity has revealed an unprecedented diversity of chemical structures and physical properties. Similarly to other unconventional…
Superconductivity is one of most intriguing quantum phenomena, and the quest for elemental superconductors with high critical temperature (Tc) is of great scientific significance due to their relatively simple material composition and the…
James Chadwick is known for his discovery of the neutron. Many of his earlier findings and ideas in the context of weak and strong nuclear forces are much less known. This biographical sketch attempts to highlight the achievements of a…
Recollections by the author about how his interactions with John Wheeler influenced his career in physics.