Speaker: Pavel Kornilovich, Oregon State University

Time: 10:00-11:00am

Location: BRIM 311

Title: Real-Space Superconductivity: Schafroth, Bipolarons, Cuprates

Abstract: The idea that superconductivity might arise from the condensation of real-space electron pairs was proposed by Swiss physicist Robert Schafroth several years before the development of BCS theory. Although this concept is now known as Bose-Einstein-condensation superconductivity, Schafroth’s contributions are largely forgotten. In this talk, I will briefly review Schafroth’s work and his complex relationships with John Bardeen and Leon Cooper. I will then describe a version of real-space superconductivity involving phonon bipolarons as normal-state charge carriers. I argue that anisotropic bipolarons account for many of the properties of the copper-oxide superconductors discovered in 1986. I will discuss how a deeper understanding of bipolarons might help raise the critical temperature beyond the current record of 133 K.