Abstract:
Superconductors are materials in which electrical resistance becomes zero when cooled below a critical temperature Tc. Current in superconductors is carried not by individual electrons, but by Cooper pairs. The formation of these pairs is energetically favorable due to attractive interactions between electrons mediated by the crystalline lattice. Cooper pairs are composite bosons that, upon cooling, form a state analogous to a Bose-Einstein condensate. All pairs are described by a single effective wave function with a common phase, making the entire system macroscopically coherent—a configuration that is energetically favorable.
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