BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) Primer: a Guide to Computational Methods in Superconductivity Theory

Abstract

Because of the recent revival of interest in superconductivity, we have felt that a pedagogical, yet concise review of the fundamental ideas of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory of superconductivity is timely. We discuss the basic ideas of the BCS theory and list the formulae for the thermodynamic quantities of this theory in the usual real-time representation. We also represent these formulae in the alternate imaginary-time representation, which makes 'hands-on' numerical evaluation of the thermodynamic quantities of interest readily accessible. Finally, we pointout the limitations of the BCS theory and describe some of its proposed extensions for describing the behavior of some of the new, unconventional superconductors.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA216393

Entities

People

  • Andreas Langner
  • Devaraj Sahu
  • Thomas F. George

Organizations

  • University at Buffalo

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Computational Science
  • Energy Gaps
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Free Energy
  • High Temperature
  • Low Temperature
  • Materials
  • Materials Science
  • Military Research
  • Momentum
  • New York
  • Solid State Physics
  • Superconductors
  • Wave Functions

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Quantum spin resonance or Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy.
  • Superconducting Magnet Technology