2003. - 122 p.
Superconductivity is one of the most fascinating chapters of mode physics. It has been a continuous source of inspiration for different realms of physics and has shown a tremendous capacity of cross-fertilization, to say nothing of its numerous technological applications. Before giving a more accurate definition of this phenomenon let us however briefly sketch the historical path leading to it. Two were the main steps in the discovery of superconductivity. The former was due to Kameiiingh Onnes (Kamerlingh Onnes, 1911) who discovered that the electrical resistance of various metals, e. g. mercury, lead, tin and many others, disappeared when the temperature was lowered below some critical value Tc. The actual values of Tc varied with the metal, but they were all of the order of a few K, or at most of the order of tenths of a K. Subsequently perfect diamagnetism in superconductors was discovered (Meissner and Ochsenfeld, 1933). This property not only implies that magnetic fields are excluded from superconductors, but also that any field originally present in the metal is expelled from it when lowering the temperature below its critical value.
Superconductivity is one of the most fascinating chapters of mode physics. It has been a continuous source of inspiration for different realms of physics and has shown a tremendous capacity of cross-fertilization, to say nothing of its numerous technological applications. Before giving a more accurate definition of this phenomenon let us however briefly sketch the historical path leading to it. Two were the main steps in the discovery of superconductivity. The former was due to Kameiiingh Onnes (Kamerlingh Onnes, 1911) who discovered that the electrical resistance of various metals, e. g. mercury, lead, tin and many others, disappeared when the temperature was lowered below some critical value Tc. The actual values of Tc varied with the metal, but they were all of the order of a few K, or at most of the order of tenths of a K. Subsequently perfect diamagnetism in superconductors was discovered (Meissner and Ochsenfeld, 1933). This property not only implies that magnetic fields are excluded from superconductors, but also that any field originally present in the metal is expelled from it when lowering the temperature below its critical value.