Superfluidity is one of the most striking manifestations of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales, characterized by frictionless flow and the emergence of collective quantum phenomena. The theoretical foundation of superfluidity in fermionic systems was revolutionized by the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory, developed in 1957 to explain superconductivity in metals. This groundbreaking work provided a microscopic description of how attractive interactions between electrons near the Fermi surface can lead to the formation of Cooper pairs-correlated pairs of fermions that condense into a coherent quantum state. The BCS theory not only explained superconductivity but also laid the groundwork for understanding superfluidity in systems like liquid helium-3 and ultracold fermionic gases, becoming a cornerstone of condensed matter physics.
Superfluidity is one of the most striking manifestations of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales, characterized by frictionless flow and the emergence of collective quantum phenomena. The theoretical foundation of superfluidity in fermionic systems was revolutionized by the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory, developed in 1957 to explain superconductivity in metals. This groundbreaking work provided a microscopic description of how attractive interactions between electrons near the Fermi surface can lead to the formation of Cooper pairs-correlated pairs of fermions that condense into a coherent quantum state. The BCS theory not only explained superconductivity but also laid the groundwork for understanding superfluidity in systems like liquid helium-3 and ultracold fermionic gases, becoming a cornerstone of condensed matter physics.
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.
A system composed of particles, whose quantum mechanical zero point energy is large compared to their interaction energy, does not solidify even at absolute zero temperature and remains a so-called quantum liquid. Typical examples of such systems are conduction electrons in metals and liquid helium. Many conductors undergo a phase transition at their critical temperature T c and become superconducting below it. Similarly, liquid 4 He under its vapour pressure becomes a superfluid at T c = 2.17 K ( T λ is often used instead of T c ), and liquid 3 He at T c = 0.9 mK. Although the phenomena are called superconductivity for a charged system like conduction electrons, and superfluidity for a neutral system like liquid helium, they are characterised by the same basic property that the wave nature of the particles manifests itself on a macroscopic scale, as we shall see below. Phenomena The most important factor in determining the properties of a quantum liquid is the statistics of the constituent particles. Liquid 3 He becomes a typical Fermi liquid below 0.1 K and a superfluid below a few mK, in contrast with the bosonic liquid 4 He mentioned above. The two superfluids are quite different both phenomenologically and microscopically. Table 1.1 shows systems which exhibit, or are predicted to exhibit (in brackets), superconductivity or superfluidity. In the case of fermion systems pair formation is responsible for the phenomena so that their properties differ according to the pairing type.
This article gives a detailed review of our current theoretical understanding of the crossover from cooperative Cooper pairing to independent bound-state formation and Bose–Einstein condensation in Fermi systems with increasing attractive interactions. Introduction There are two well-known paradigms for understanding the phenomena of superconductivity and superfluidity: (I) BCS theory [1], in which the normal state is a degenerate Fermi liquid that undergoes a pairing instability at a temperature T c ≪ ε f , the degeneracy scale. The formation of Cooper pairs and their condensation (macroscopic occupation of a single quantum state) both occur simultaneously at the transition temperature T c . (II) Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of bosons at a T c of the order of their degeneracy temperature. At a fundamental level these bosons (for example, 4 He or excitons) are invariably composite objects made up of an even number of fermions. The composite particles form at some very high temperature scale of the order of their dissociation temperature T dissoc , and these “pre-formed” bosons then condense at the BEC T c ≪ T dissoc . In most cases of experimental interest the system under consideration clearly falls into one category or the other. For instance, 3 He is a Fermi superfluid described by (I) whereas 4 He is a Bose superfluid (II). Essentially all cases of superconductivity in metals that we understand reasonably well are much closer to (I) than to (II), as evidenced by the existence of fermionic quasiparticles above T c .
As we all know, single microscopic particles such as electrons or atoms do not behave according to the familiar classical (Newtonian) physics which describes the everyday world, but rather according to the prescriptions of quantum mechanics, the outcome is often bizarre and counterintuitive. When a macroscopic number of such particles (say ∼ 10) is assembled under conditions where the effects of quantum mechanics are important, the results can be even more spectacular; they include macroscopic phenomena such as superfluidity and superconductivity, which are completely impossible to explain in classical terms. Most, though not all of these exotic phenomena, are a result of a phenomenon which I shall refer to generically as “quantum condensation,” in which a macroscopic number of particles or pairs of particles—a nonzero fraction of all particles present—occupy a single quantum state; this phenomenon is traditionally referred to as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) when it occurs in a system of bosons such as liquid He, and as Cooper pairing when it occurs, for pairs of particles, in a system of fermions such as the electrons in a superconducting metal. As a result of quantum condensation, the characteristically quantum-mechanical behavior which we are used to seeing at the level of single electrons is as it were amplified by the cooperation of condensed particles and can manifest itself at the macroscopic level. The present essay is intended as a general introduction to the subject of quantum condensation and its consequences, as manifested in a variety of physical systems. I will try to review the fundamental physical ideas, usually without de-
Abstract We have seen in the previous chapters that the concept of the macroscopic wave functionΨ(r), is central to understanding atomic Bose–Einstein condensates (BEC), superfluid He, and even superconductivity within the Ginzburg–Landau (GL) theory. But the connection between these ideas is not at all clear, since the atom condensates and He are bosonic systems, while super-conductivity is associated with the conduction electrons in metals which are fermions. The physical meaning of the GL order parameter was not explained until after 1957 when Bardeen Cooper and Schrieffer (BCS) published the first truly microscopic theory of superconductivity. Soon afterward the connection was finally established by Gor’ kov. He was able to show that, at least in the range of temperatures near Tc, the GL theory can indeed be derived from the BCS theory. Furthermore this provides a physical interpretation of the nature of the order parameter. Essentially it is describing a macroscopic wave function, or condensate, of Cooper pairs.
A original microscopic theory of superfluidity and superconductivity driven by the single particle (SPC) and pair condensation (PC) of attracting bosons both in Fermi and in Bose systems is developed. This theory (as distinct from the existing theories) for Fermi systems contains two order parameters Δ F and Δ B characterizing the attracting fermion pairs and boson pairs, respectively. In such systems superconducting (SC) phase transition is accompanied, as a rule, by the formation of k-space composite bosons (e.g. Cooper pairs and bipolarons) with their subsequent transition to the superfluid (SF) state by attractive SPC and PC. A novel Fermi-liquid and SF Bose-liquid theories are elaborated for description this two-stage Fermi–Bose-liquid (FBL) scenario of SC (or SF) transition. The crossover from k- to real (r)-space pairing regime for BCS-like coupling constants γ F ≃ 0.7-0.9 and the irrelevance of r-space pairs to the superconductivity are shown. The developed SF Bose-liquid theory predicts the first-order phase transition SPC ↔ PC of attracting 3d-bosons with the kink-like behaviors of all SC (SF) parameters near [Formula: see text] in accordance with the observations in 4 He , 3 He and superconductors. It is argued that the coexistence of the order parameters Δ F and Δ B leads to the superconductivity by two FBL scenarios. One of these scenarios is realized in the so-called fermion (type I, II and III) superconductors (FSC) (where formation of k-space composite bosons and their condensation occur at the same temperature) and the other in the boson (type II and III) superconductors (BSC) (where BCS-like pairing take place in the normal state with manifesting of the second-order phase transition and opening of the pseudogap at T=T F > T c ). There the gapless superfluidity (superconductivity) is caused by the gapless excitation spectrum of bosons at [Formula: see text] and not by the presence of point or line nodes of the BCS-like gap Δ F assumed in some s-, p- and d-pairing models. The 3D- and 2D-insulator–metal–superconductor phase diagrams are presented. The necessary and sufficient microscopic criterions for superfluidity is formulated. The theory proposed are in close agreement with the observations in 4 He , 3 He , superconductors, nuclear and neutron star matter, cosmology, etc.