The theory of superconductivity is formulated starting from the configuration-space form of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) wave function. Self-consistent equations for treating nonu- niform systems are obtained. These equations have the advantage over the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations that an effective condensate wave function and quasiparticle eigenstates can separately be obtained. The intrinsic orbital angular momentum density of the condensate is naturally iden- tified in this formalism due to a manifest two-particle bound-state nature in the one-particle density matrix.
The theory of superconductivity is formulated starting from the configuration-space form of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) wave function. Self-consistent equations for treating nonu- niform systems are obtained. These equations have the advantage over the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations that an effective condensate wave function and quasiparticle eigenstates can separately be obtained. The intrinsic orbital angular momentum density of the condensate is naturally iden- tified in this formalism due to a manifest two-particle bound-state nature in the one-particle density matrix.
The crucial demonstration that superfluidity was linked to Bose particles and Bose-Einstein condensation came after the discovery of He3 in 1949, which failed to show the characteristic A transition within a reasonable wide temperature interval around the critical temperature for the onset of superfluidity in He4. The idea of the bosonization of electrons due to their pairing, introduced by Ogg (1946) became very attractive as an explanation for superconductivity after Schafroth (1955) showed that a gas of charged bosons with charge 2e would indeed show a Meissner effect, which is one of the most crucial features of superconductors (see Chapter 1). However this phenomenological Bose-gas picture was condemned and later on practically forgotten because it was unable to account quantitatively for the critical parameters of the classical (low-temperature) superconductors. Using for Tc the Bose-Einstein condensation temperature Eq.(l.S) one obtains the utterly meaningless result Tc = lOOOO.R&s; with the atomic density of electron pairs ~ 1022cm~3 and with the effective mass m** = 2me. The failure of the Schafroth picture stems from a very large size £ of pairs in classical superconductors, which can be estimated from the uncertainty principle: The uncertainty of the momentum 8p is estimated from the uncertainty of the kinetic energy 8E ~ vpSp, which should be of the order of Tc, the only characteristic energy of the superconducting state. Therefore and turns out to be more than one micron for simple metals with Tc ~ IK and the Fermi velocity VF — I0scm/s. That means that pairs in classical superconductors overlap strongly and the Shafroth model of real space pairs is wrong. The finally successful theory for classical superconductors was formulated by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer (1957). In this chapter we present the main points of the BCS theory, using the Bogoliubov transformation (1947,1958) for the weak-coupling regime and the Green&s;s function technique for the intermediate coupling in Chapter 3. More details will be found in the excellent books by Schrieffer(1965), De Gennes (1989) and Abrikosov, Gor&s;kov and Dzyaloshinskii (1963).
Abstract One of the important steps leading to the successful formulation of the microscopic theory of superconductivity was the model calculation performed by Cooper (1956) which showed that two electrons, interacting above a filled Fermi sea, had a bound state in the presence of an arbitrarily weak attractive interaction. This chapter first examines Cooper’s calculation. The success of the Cooper model calculation in producing a bound state, with its implication that a proper many-body theory would contain a gap in the excitation spectrum, strongly suggests that the ground state wave function should be constructed from pairs of electrons. However, it is difficult to perform calculations using the many-body pair wave function from Cooper’s model. The chapter then introduces the wave function proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer (BCS) as an alternative.
Abstract Chapter 13 addresses Bose condensation in superfluids (and superconductors), which involves the field operator ψ having a c-number component (<ψ(x,t)>≠0), challenging number conservation. The nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation is derived for this condensate wave function <ψ>=ψ−ψ˜, facilitating identification of the coherence length and the core region of vortex motion. The noncondensate Green’s function G˜1(1,1′)=−i<(ψ˜(1)ψ˜+(1′))+> and the nonvanishing anomalous correlation function F˜∗(2,1′)=−i<(ψ˜+(2)ψ˜+(1′))+> describe the dynamics and elementary excitations of the non-condensate states and are discussed in conjunction with Landau’s criterion for viscosity. Associated concepts of off-diagonal long-range order and the interpretation of <ψ> as a superfluid order parameter are also introduced. Anderson’s Bose-condensed state, as a phase-coherent wave packet superposition of number states, resolves issues of number conservation. Superconductivity involves bound Cooper pairs of electrons capable of Bose condensation and superfluid behavior. Correspondingly, the two-particle Green’s function has a term involving a product of anomalous bound-Cooper-pair condensate wave functions of the type F(1,2)=−i<(ψ(1)ψ(2))+>≠0, such that G2(1,2;1′,2′)=F(1,2)F+(1′,2′)+G˜2(1,2;1′,2′). Here, G˜2 describes the dynamics/excitations of the non-superfluid-condensate states, while nonvanishing F,F+ represent a phase-coherent wave packet superposition of Cooper-pair number states and off-diagonal long range order. Employing this form of G2 in the G1-equation couples the condensed state with the non-condensate excitations. Taken jointly with the dynamical equation for F(1,2), this leads to the Gorkov equations, encompassing the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) energy gap, critical temperature, and Bogoliubov-de Gennes eigenfunction Bogoliubons. Superconductor thermodynamics and critical magnetic field are discussed. For a weak magnetic field, the Gorkov-equations lead to Ginzburg–Landau theory and a nonlinear Schrödinger-like equation for the pair wave function and the associated supercurrent, along with identification of the Cooper pair density. Furthermore, Chapter 13 addresses the apparent lack of gauge invariance of London theory with an elegant variational analysis involving re-gauging the potentials, yielding a manifestly gauge invariant generalization of the London equation. Consistency with the equation of continuity implies the existence of Anderson’s acoustic normal mode, which is supplanted by the plasmon for Coulomb interaction. Type II superconductors and the penetration (and interaction) of quantized magnetic flux lines are also discussed. Finally, Chapter 13 addresses Josephson tunneling between superconductors.
A theory of a Fermi superfluid is formulated based on the condensate wave function of the configuration space. First, two basic ingredients are extracted from the wave function, i.e. the effective condensate wave function v ( x 1 , x 2 ) and the quasiparticle field γ( x ) with x denoting the space and spin coordinates r α. After transforming a Hamiltonian into a normal-ordered product of γ, a perturbation expansion with respect to the quasiparticle interaction is formulated for both the thermodynamic potential Ω and the one-particle density matrix ρ. The thermodynamic potential thus obtained includes the normal-state expression of Luttinger and Ward as the limit of v → 0. The density matrix is written as a sum of the coherent part ρ ( c) and the quasiparticle part ρ ( q) , where ρ ( c) is expressed only with respect to v ( x 1 , x 2 ). It is shown that v and γ are responsible for the coherent and thermodynamic properties respectively. Thus the present formalism gives a microscopic foundation for the two-fluid model. Connections with the Gor'kov equations and the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations are also clarified. It is found that the one-particle density matrices of those formalisms are not equivalent to ρ of the present formalism. The origin of the angular momentum paradox of 3 He - A is traced to this difference.
By expressing the density matrix, for the special case of one pair state only and simple pairing, in exponential form, we reproduce the results of earlier papers and obtain an expression for the entropy which is formally identical with that of Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer and that of Bogoliubov. The expression for the entropy is shown to be exact in the limit of infinite volume. A variational calculation is then performed and the resulting set of equations is identical with that of B.C.S., thus establishing the relation between the Quasi-Chemical Equilibrium, the B.C.S., and the Bogoliubov theories of superconductivity at non-zero temperature.
A nonperturbative argument is used to derive a one-electron Hamiltonian whose eigenfunctions are in one-to-one correspondence with electron or hole quasiparticles of an N-electron system. Nonlocal exchange is included exactly, and self-energy terms due to electronic correlation are included at the level of approximation of a given N-electron wave function. When parametrized by quasiparticle occupation numbers, this one-electron Hamiltonian is the functional derivative of an exact N-electron energy functional, as in the Landau theory of interacting fermion systems. The present nonperturbative derivation extends the Landau theory to ordered or localized systems for which many-body perturbation theory is not directly applicable. Analysis of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) reduced Hamiltonian for superconductors leads to a temperature-dependent energy gap and a transition temperature in good agreement with the BCS theory, in a formalism that conserves the number of electrons.