Abstract Four different systems, mostly of recent vintage, which are known or conjectured to manifest BEC/Cooper pairing are discussed. First, various non-cuprate “exotic” superconductors (alkali fullerides, organics, heavy fermions, ruthenates) are reviewed. Next, an account is given of the superfluid phases of liquid 3He in the pores of aerogel. A third section introduces the topic of the “supersolid” behavior recently reported in solid 4He, and comments on some theoretical issues raised by the experiments. The last section of the chapter considers the newly realized system of ultracold Fermi alkali gases, where one can study experimentally the apparently smooth crossover between the BEC of diatomic molecules and BCS superfluidity in a degenerate Fermi gas, thus unifying the concepts of BEC and Cooper pairing.
Abstract Four different systems, mostly of recent vintage, which are known or conjectured to manifest BEC/Cooper pairing are discussed. First, various non-cuprate “exotic” superconductors (alkali fullerides, organics, heavy fermions, ruthenates) are reviewed. Next, an account is given of the superfluid phases of liquid 3He in the pores of aerogel. A third section introduces the topic of the “supersolid” behavior recently reported in solid 4He, and comments on some theoretical issues raised by the experiments. The last section of the chapter considers the newly realized system of ultracold Fermi alkali gases, where one can study experimentally the apparently smooth crossover between the BEC of diatomic molecules and BCS superfluidity in a degenerate Fermi gas, thus unifying the concepts of BEC and Cooper pairing.
Abstract Starting from first principles, this book introduces the closely related phenomena of Bose condensation and Cooper pairing, in which a very large number of single particles or pairs of particles are forced to behave in exactly the same way. Their consequences in condensed matter systems are also explored. Eschewing advanced formal methods, the book uses simple concepts and arguments to account for the various qualitatively new phenomena which occur in Bose-condensed and Cooper-paired systems, including but not limited to the spectacular macroscopic phenomena of superconductivity and superfluidity. The physical systems discussed include liquid 4-He, the BEC alkali gases, “classical” superconductors, superfluid 3-He, “exotic” superconductors, and the recently stabilized Fermi alkali gases.
Various BCS-like pairing theories are still invariably used to describe the unusual superconducting/superfluid states and properties of condensed matters without clarifying the fermionic or bosonic nature of Cooper pairs and the relevant mechanisms of superconductivity and superfluidity. We show that the bosonization of Cooper pairs and the novel superconductivity and superfluidity resulting from the condensation of an attractive Bose gas of Cooper pairs into a superfluid state in high-Tc cuprates and other exotic systems occur under the condition εF≲2εA (where εF is the Fermi energy, εA is the energy of the effective attraction between fermions). We argue that the simple BCS criterion (i.e. formation of an energy gap on the Fermi surface) is insufficient for the occurrence of unconventional superconductivity (superfluidity) and the superconducting/superfluid transition in attractive Bose systems is more λ-like than the usual Bose–Einstein condensation. The new and specific criteria for unconventional superconductivity and superfluidity are formulated. Mean-field theory of the three- and two-dimensional superfluid Bose condensates of Cooper pairs describes reasonably well the novel superconducting states (i.e., two distinct superconducting phases below the bulk superconducting transition temperature Tc and a vortex-like state above Tc) and properties (such as λ-like transition at Tc, first-order phase transition and gapless bosonic excitations somewhat below Tc or even far below Tc) of high-Tc cuprates in full agreement with the experimental findings. The unusual superconducting/superfluid states and properties of heavy-fermion and organic compounds, Sr2RuO4, 3He, 4He and atomic Fermi gases are explained more clearly by this theory.
In this review article we consider theoretically and give experimental support to the models of the Fermi-Bose mixtures and the BCS-BEC (Bardeen Cooper Schrieffer–Bose Einstein) crossover compared with the strong-coupling approach, which can serve as the cornerstones on the way from high-temperature to room-temperature superconductivity in pressurized metallic hydrides. We discuss some key theoretical ideas and mechanisms proposed for unconventional superconductors (cuprates, pnictides, chalcogenides, bismuthates, diborides, heavy-fermions, organics, bilayer graphene, twisted graphene, oxide hetero-structures), superfluids and balanced or imbalanced ultracold Fermi gases in magnetic traps. We build a bridge between unconventional superconductors and recently discovered pressurized hydrides superconductors H3S and LaH10 with the critical temperature close to room temperature. We discuss systems with a line of nodal Dirac points close to the Fermi surface and superconducting shape resonances, and hyperbolic superconducting networks which are very important for the development of novel topological superconductors, for the energetics, for the applications in nano-electronics and quantum computations.
These lectures address Bose and Fermi ultracold dilute alkali gases. For Bose gases I discuss general BEC concepts, superfluidity, the Josephson effect, and issues related to the establishment of a "phase standard". For Fermi gases I discuss prospects for Cooper pairing and its detection. The four lectures on alkali Bose gases which I actually gave at the School were based on a review paper in preparation for Reviews of Modern Physics. In order to avoid extensive duplication of the contents of that review, what I present here, condensed into three lectures, is a melange of informal commentary on the results presented there and some material which for space and other reasons had to be omitted. This material is ideally read in conjunction with the review. The fourth lecture, on the Fermi alkali gases, is presented here in (nearly) the form in which it was actually given.
Abstract The book covers three main strands, Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC), superfluid and superconductivity. The subjects are developed in a way which gradually builds up the key concepts and the necessary mathematical machinery. The book begins with the simplest of the three topics, BEC, and first thoroughly reviews the basics of the Bose-Einstein ideal gas before going into the techniques of magnetic trapping and cooling of atoms and the discovery of BEC in dilute atomic gases. Superfluidity in helium-4 is more difficult to understand, because it is a strongly interacting quantum liquid. The book introduces the main physical phenomena of superfluidity, and how it follows from the key concept of macroscopic quantum coherence and off-diagonal long ranged order. The theory of superconductivity is developed in stages, starting with the simpler London and Ginzburg Landau theories and their main applications, before developing the mathematical concepts of a quantum coherent state and the Bardeen Cooper Schrieffer (BCS) theory. The final chapter deals with the more advanced topics, including superfluid helium-3 and evidence for unconventional Cooper pairing in exotic superconductors. No prior knowledge of quantum many-body theory is assumed, and the necessary mathematical concepts are introduced in a self-contained manner where needed.
This review is written at the time of the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of high-temperature superconductors, which nearly coincides with the important discovery of the superfluid phases of ultracold trapped fermionic atoms. We show how these two subjects have much in common. Both have been addressed from the perspective of the BCS—Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover scenario, which is designed to treat short coherence length superfluids with transition temperatures which are “high” with respect to the Fermi energy. A generalized mean field treatment of BCS–BEC crossover at general temperatures T, based on the BCS–Leggett ground state, has met with remarkable success in the fermionic atomic systems. Here we summarize this success in the context of four different cold atom experiments, all of which provide indications, direct or indirect, for the existence of a pseudogap. This scenario also provides a physical picture of the pseudogap phase in the underdoped cuprates which is a central focus of high Tc research. We summarize successful applications of BCS–BEC crossover to key experiments in high Tc systems, including the phase diagram, specific heat, and vortex core STM data, along with the Nernst effect, and exciting recent data on the superfluid density in very underdoped samples.