Superconductivity of Metals and Cuprates

by J.R Waldram

Overview

Superconductivity of Metals and Cuprates covers the basic physics of superconductivity, both the theoretical and experimental aspects. The book concentrates on important facts and ideas, including Ginzburg-Landau equations, boundary energy, Green's function methods, and spectroscopy. Avoiding lengthy or difficult presentations of theory, it is written in a clear and lucid style with many useful, informative diagrams. The book is designed to be accessible to senior undergraduate students, making it a helpful tool for teaching superconductivity as well as serving as an introduction to those entering the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780852743379
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/01/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface. Introduction. The superfluid. The ideal phase transition. Ginzburg-Landau theory. Superconducting states with internal magnetic flux. Josephson effects. Groundwork of BCS theory. BCS properties for weak coupling. The meaning of the order parameter. The non-local form of BCS theory. Further theory and properties. The structure of cuprate superconductors. Electron states and bands in the cuprates. Normal-state transport properties in the cuprates. Superfluid and Ginzburg-Landau behaviour. Cuprates compared with BCS theory. Alternative theories of cuprate superconductivity. Applications of superconductivity. Appendix: second quantization. For further reading. Acknowledgments of copyright. Index and notation.

Editorial Reviews

"I have enormously appreciated reading this book … As an experimental solid-state physicist and a materials scientist, I have learned a lot of things … well written, clear … a basic graduate school textbook on superconductivity. … a very complete, comprehensive, and illustrative work, which goes beyond the purely theoretical aspects. … good overview of superconductivity and covers a wide range of aspects, including applications. … Congratulations to the author."
-MRS Bulletin

"very useful, comprehensive, spanning a spectrum that includes phenomenology and history, microscopic theory, high-temperature superconductivity, and applications … sections on the macroscopic wave function, describing the superfluid behavior of the electrons, the Ginzburg-Landau model, and the Josephson effects … contain unique physical insights. …Especially noteworthy are the treatments of electron-phonon coupling, the relationship of the order parameter to the microscopic theory, and the nonlocal form of the BCS theory. … a heroic effort to cover the current understanding and present in a fair manner the various positions on many questions. Particularly strong are the considerations of electronic structure issues, properties of the normal state, and issues such as the spin gap and the pseudogap. …essential physical ideas are outlined, and the references … provide a clear path into the various subfields for the interested reader. … The comparison of the properties of the cuprates with … BCS theory is an excellent summary of a large number of experimental studies … a fine job in reviewing the experimental facts … contains many profound physical insights and … a comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of topics … certainly should be read by serious students of the subject."
-Physics Today

"… It is true that much of the intrinsic beauty of superconductivity is that it is basically a quantum mechanical phenomenon and any thorough treatment has to tackle this head on. John Waldram has met this challenge admirably … an impressive contribution and worthy of its subject. I can not recommend it too highly."
-L.F. Cohen (Imperial College, London, UK), Contemporary Physics, Vol. 40, No, 1, 1999

From the Publisher

... It is true that much of the intrinsic beauty of superconductivity is that it is basically a quantum mechanical phenomenon and any thorough treatment has to tackle this head on. John Waldram has met this challenge admirably .. an impreessive contribution and owrhty of its subject. I can not recommend it too highly.
— Contemporary Physics

O.B.I.

I have enormously appreciated reading this book ... As an experimental solid state physicist and a materials scientist, I have learned a lot of things ... well written, clear ... a basic 'graduate school' textbook on superconductivity. ... a very complete, comprehensive, and illustrative work, which goes beyond the purely theoretical aspects. ... good overview of superconductivity and covers a wide range of aspects, including applications. ... Congratulations to the author.

MRS Bulletin

"very useful, comprehensive, spanning a spectrum that includes phenomenology and history, microscopic theory, high-temperature superconductivity and applications ... sections on the macroscopic wave function, describing the superfluid behavior of the electrons, the Ginzburg-Landau model and the Josephson effects ... contain unique physical insights. ...Especially noteworthy are the treatments of electron-phonon coupling, the relationship of the order parameter to the microscopic theory and the nonlocal form of the BCS theory. ... a heroic effort to cover the current understandng and present in a fair manner the various positions on many questions. Particularly strong are the considerations of electronic structure issues, properties of the normal state and such issues as the spin gap and the pseudogap. ...essential physical ideas are outlined, and the references ... provide a clear path into the various subfields for the interested reader. ... The comparison of the properties of the cuprates with ... BCS theory is an excellent summary of a large number of experimental studies ... a fine job in reviewing the experimental facts ... contains many profound physical insights and ... a comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of topics .. certainly should be read by serious students of the subject.

Physics Today

A dozen papers from two symposia, August 1994 and September 1995, in Suwon, Korea, focus on the application of research in the enzymology of carbohydrate engineering to agriculture, relating the structure and biochemical properties of various enzymes to their production and action in plants and food. Among the topics are mechanisms and actions of glucansucrases, the structure and activity of some start-metabolizing enzymes, manipulating storage compounds in transgenic plants, and the overproduction of bacterial amylases in recombinant Escherichia coli systems. Reproduced from typescripts. No subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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