Electron Pairs and Waves: Tackling the puzzle of high-temperature superconductivity

摘要

The detectives have been hard at work gathering clues, building theories, and sketching portraits of the perpetrator. Yet, after years of dogged effort, no satisfying resolution of the mystery appears in sight. The culprit continues to elude the supersleuths. In the case of high-temperature superconductors, the missing factor—the elusive culprit—is the mechanism that allows certain copper oxide ceramic compounds to conduct electricity without resistance. How do electrons manage to flow effortlessly through the ceramic compounds at temperatures as high as 135 kelvins?