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CRC Press eBooks

Cooper Pairs

Gordon Baym

Published Mar 5, 2018• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Superconductivity arises from a very complicated set of interactions between the electrons in a metal. This chapter considers a very simplified model of the interaction of a pair of electrons in a metal, it is an instructive example of how quantum mechanics works and the main features of this model are at the starting point of the modern theory of superconductivity. In a metal one has a repulsive Coulomb interaction between the electrons, together with an attractive interaction between the electrons and ions. The total interaction between any two electrons is a composite of this attraction plus the Coulomb repulsion. In some metals, this total interaction is attractive for electrons near the Fermi surface.

DOI
10.1201/9780429499265-8

Related papers

Superconductivity from repulsion: Theoretical constraints

A. S. Alexandrov

Motivation With few exceptions [131] it is widely accepted that the conventional Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) theory [12] and its intermediate-coupling Eliashberg extension [14] do not suffice to explain high-temperature superconductivity. As shown in the preceding chapters the true origin of high-temperature superconductivity could be found in a proper combination of the bare Coulomb repulsion with the bare electron–phonon interaction in the framework of the many-body polaron theory [51] beyond the BCS–Eliashberg approximation. Nevertheless some researchers have maintained that the repulsive electron–electron interaction alone should provide pairing at high temperatures without phonons despite substantial experimental evidence that the EPI is an important player and needs to be included in the successful theory of high- T c superconductivity. Following the original proposal by P. W. Anderson, many authors [22, 74] argued that the electron–electron interaction in high-temperature superconductors was strong but repulsive providing high T c without phonons via superexchange and/or spin fluctuations in the d -wave pairing channel ( l = 2). A motivation for this concept can be found in the earlier works by Kohn and Luttinger (KL) [132, 133] who showed that the Cooper pairing of fermions with any weak repulsion was possible since the two-particle interaction induced by many-body effects is attractive for pairs with large orbital momenta, l ≫ 1.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•May 2, 2013•0 citations

The Microscopic Theory of Superconductivity: Cooper Pairing and the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer Theory

John B. Ketterson

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.

•Sep 8, 2016•0 citations

High Temperature Superconductivity from Strong Correlation

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It is important to understand the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. It is obvious that the interaction with large energy scale is responsible for high critical temperature T c . The Coulomb interaction is one of candidates that bring about high-temperature superconductivity because its characteristic energy is of the order of eV. There have been many works for the Hubbard model including three-band d-p model with the on-site Coulomb repulsion to investigate a possibility of high-temperature superconductivity. It is, of course, not trivial whether the on-site Coulomb interaction leads to a pairing interaction between two electrons. We argue that high-temperature superconductivity is possible in the strongly correlated region by using the variational Monte Carlo method for the two-dimensional t-U-J-V model. The exchange interaction J and the nearest-neighbour attractive interaction V cooperate with U and will act to enhance the critical temperature.

arXiv:1503.00232•Physics Procedia•Jan 1, 2015•2 citations

New Theory of Superconductivity

В. V. Bondarev

This book contains detailed insights on the calculus of variations that studies the equilibrium density matrix for many-particle Fermi systems. There are two approximations taken into account in the book. The simplest one is the mean field approximation. The second approximation applies not only to the particle distribution pattern but also to the correlation function. The variational principle for electron distribution function among wave vectors has been denoted in the work. The method that makes using the density matrix for finding the valence electron energy in metal has been proposed. It has been proved that the Coulomb interaction of electrons in a crystal lattice results in production of the model Hamiltonian consisting of two components. One component describes attraction of electrons with the equal wave vectors inducing formation of specific electron pairs. The other component describes repulsion of electrons with the wave vectors being equal by size and opposite by direction. This component denotes the anisotropy regarding distribution of electrons among wave vectors thus indicating the superconducting substance ability. The Fermi-Dirac distribution function, as considered together with the model Hamiltonian, explains all the properties exhibited by superconductors. Thus, the effect of a magnetic field on the superconducting states is studied in the book. The book can be interesting for senior schoolchildren, students of higher educational institutions, postgraduates and teachers.

•Jan 1, 2017•0 citations

Superconductivity in metal-insulator composite bands: A realization of negative-Upairing in purely repulsive systems

Kazuhiko Kuroki, Hideo Aoki

We consider the multiband, purely repulsive Hubbard model on a class of systems in which there are two (or more) kinds of orbitals per unit cell such that one metallic band interacts with the other insulating band. From both perturbational canonical transformation and quantum Monte Carlo studies we have shown that superconductivity due to nonretarded attraction (negative U) is a generic feature of this class of metal-insulator composite many-body systems. Remarkably, the superconductivity arises, under appropriate conditions, for various types of insulating bands (a charge-transfer insulator, Mott-Hubbard insulator, etc.). Superconductivity is unambiguously identified from the pairing correlation function, which agrees with that of the attractive Hubbard model surprisingly well even in the nonperturbative regime. The superconductivity revealed here is in a sense an opposite limit to conventional superconductivity with retarded attraction from boson-exchange mechanisms. We also show that the present mechanism is distinct from existing multiband models such as d-${\mathit{p}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}$ models. As we increase the magnitude of the attraction in the present model by changing some parameters (e.g., to make the accompanying band metallic), the similarity with the attractive Hubbard model becomes eventually degraded, so that the optimum condition for superconductivity is determined by this kind of tradeoff. We also discuss the relevance of the present model to high-${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$ superconductivity in cuprates and fullerenes.

Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Sep 1, 1993•12 citations

The Cooper Pair Problem

Monique Combescot, Shiue-Yuan Shiau

Abstract Chapter 6 introduces the BCS theory of superconductivity, proposed in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer and which is based on the idea that electrons form a coherent state of electron pairs with opposite spins and opposite momenta. It then briefly explains how, along the Fröhlich idea, the electron-phonon interaction can lead to the ion-mediated attractive potential for Cooper pairing. Next, it introduces the reduced BCS potential, which acts between electrons having opposite spins and opposite momenta. Finally, this chapter discusses the drastic consequence of the reduced BCS potential on Cooper pair interaction and explains why Cooper pairs can strongly overlap without dissociating.

Oxford University Press eBooks•Dec 1, 2015•0 citations
Superconductivity arises from a very complicated set of interactions between the electrons in a metal. This chapter considers a very simplified model of the interaction of a pair of electrons in a metal, it is an instructive example of how quantum mechanics works and the main features of this model are at the starting point of the modern theory of superconductivity. In a metal one has a repulsive Coulomb interaction between the electrons, together with an attractive interaction between the electrons and ions. The total interaction between any two electrons is a composite of this attraction plus the Coulomb repulsion. In some metals, this total interaction is attractive for electrons near the Fermi surface.
Motivation With few exceptions [131] it is widely accepted that the conventional Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) theory [12] and its intermediate-coupling Eliashberg extension [14] do not suffice to explain high-temperature superconductivity. As shown in the preceding chapters the true origin of high-temperature superconductivity could be found in a proper combination of the bare Coulomb repulsion with the bare electron–phonon interaction in the framework of the many-body polaron theory [51] beyond the BCS–Eliashberg approximation. Nevertheless some researchers have maintained that the repulsive electron–electron interaction alone should provide pairing at high temperatures without phonons despite substantial experimental evidence that the EPI is an important player and needs to be included in the successful theory of high- T c superconductivity. Following the original proposal by P. W. Anderson, many authors [22, 74] argued that the electron–electron interaction in high-temperature superconductors was strong but repulsive providing high T c without phonons via superexchange and/or spin fluctuations in the d -wave pairing channel ( l = 2). A motivation for this concept can be found in the earlier works by Kohn and Luttinger (KL) [132, 133] who showed that the Cooper pairing of fermions with any weak repulsion was possible since the two-particle interaction induced by many-body effects is attractive for pairs with large orbital momenta, l ≫ 1.
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.
It is important to understand the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. It is obvious that the interaction with large energy scale is responsible for high critical temperature T c . The Coulomb interaction is one of candidates that bring about high-temperature superconductivity because its characteristic energy is of the order of eV. There have been many works for the Hubbard model including three-band d-p model with the on-site Coulomb repulsion to investigate a possibility of high-temperature superconductivity. It is, of course, not trivial whether the on-site Coulomb interaction leads to a pairing interaction between two electrons. We argue that high-temperature superconductivity is possible in the strongly correlated region by using the variational Monte Carlo method for the two-dimensional t-U-J-V model. The exchange interaction J and the nearest-neighbour attractive interaction V cooperate with U and will act to enhance the critical temperature.
This book contains detailed insights on the calculus of variations that studies the equilibrium density matrix for many-particle Fermi systems. There are two approximations taken into account in the book. The simplest one is the mean field approximation. The second approximation applies not only to the particle distribution pattern but also to the correlation function. The variational principle for electron distribution function among wave vectors has been denoted in the work. The method that makes using the density matrix for finding the valence electron energy in metal has been proposed. It has been proved that the Coulomb interaction of electrons in a crystal lattice results in production of the model Hamiltonian consisting of two components. One component describes attraction of electrons with the equal wave vectors inducing formation of specific electron pairs. The other component describes repulsion of electrons with the wave vectors being equal by size and opposite by direction. This component denotes the anisotropy regarding distribution of electrons among wave vectors thus indicating the superconducting substance ability. The Fermi-Dirac distribution function, as considered together with the model Hamiltonian, explains all the properties exhibited by superconductors. Thus, the effect of a magnetic field on the superconducting states is studied in the book. The book can be interesting for senior schoolchildren, students of higher educational institutions, postgraduates and teachers.
We consider the multiband, purely repulsive Hubbard model on a class of systems in which there are two (or more) kinds of orbitals per unit cell such that one metallic band interacts with the other insulating band. From both perturbational canonical transformation and quantum Monte Carlo studies we have shown that superconductivity due to nonretarded attraction (negative U) is a generic feature of this class of metal-insulator composite many-body systems. Remarkably, the superconductivity arises, under appropriate conditions, for various types of insulating bands (a charge-transfer insulator, Mott-Hubbard insulator, etc.). Superconductivity is unambiguously identified from the pairing correlation function, which agrees with that of the attractive Hubbard model surprisingly well even in the nonperturbative regime. The superconductivity revealed here is in a sense an opposite limit to conventional superconductivity with retarded attraction from boson-exchange mechanisms. We also show that the present mechanism is distinct from existing multiband models such as d-${\mathit{p}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}$ models. As we increase the magnitude of the attraction in the present model by changing some parameters (e.g., to make the accompanying band metallic), the similarity with the attractive Hubbard model becomes eventually degraded, so that the optimum condition for superconductivity is determined by this kind of tradeoff. We also discuss the relevance of the present model to high-Tc{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}Tc​ superconductivity in cuprates and fullerenes.
Abstract Chapter 6 introduces the BCS theory of superconductivity, proposed in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer and which is based on the idea that electrons form a coherent state of electron pairs with opposite spins and opposite momenta. It then briefly explains how, along the Fröhlich idea, the electron-phonon interaction can lead to the ion-mediated attractive potential for Cooper pairing. Next, it introduces the reduced BCS potential, which acts between electrons having opposite spins and opposite momenta. Finally, this chapter discusses the drastic consequence of the reduced BCS potential on Cooper pair interaction and explains why Cooper pairs can strongly overlap without dissociating.