BCS: 50 Years (book)

BCS: 50 Years  
Author(s) Leon N Cooper & Dmitri Feldman (Eds.)
Country Singapore
Language English
Subject(s) Physics and Condensed matter physics
Genre(s) Non-fiction; review volume
Publisher World Scientific Publishing
Publication date 2010
Pages 588
ISBN ISBN 978-981-4304-64-1

BCS: 50 Years is a review volume edited by Leon Cooper, a 1972 Nobel Laureate in Physics, and Dmitri Feldman of Brown University, first published in 2010.[1]

The book consists of 23 articles written by outstanding physicists, including many Nobel prize-winners, and presents the complete theory of superconductivity - a phenomenon where the electrical resistance of some metallic materials suddenly vanish at temperatures near absolute zero.

Contents

Background

Fifty years ago, in 1957, John Bardeen, Leon Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer finally pieced together the puzzle of superconductivity, explaining in detail its mechanism and the associated effects.[2] The BCS theory, named after the three scientists, won Professor Cooper the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972, which he shared with John Robert Schrieffer and his teacher, John Bardeen.[3]

Contents

Section 1: Historical Perspectives

The first section of the book describes important discoveries which led to the development of BCS theory.

Section 2: Fluctuations, Tunneling and Disorder

The second section focuses on quantum phenomena which occur in superconductors.

Section 3: New Superconductors

Section three of the book is on various experimental and theoretical methods used to identify new superconducting materials.

Section 4: BCS Beyond Superconductivity

The final section of the book is on the application of BCS theory beyond the field of superconductivity.

Reception

John Swain writing for CERN Courier describes the book as a wonderful review of a powerful unifying concept which covers an enormous range of phenomena.[4] Malcolm Beasley for Physics Today adds that the book will provide any person curious about superconductivity with something to enjoy.[5]

Additional information

13 papers from the book have been published concurrently as a special issue of the International Journal of Modern Physics B.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "BCS: 50 Years [eBook"]. http://ebooks.worldscinet.com. http://ebooks.worldscinet.com/ISBN/9789814304665/9789814304665.shtml. Retrieved 20 October 2011. 
  2. ^ Bardeen, J.; Cooper, L. N; Schrieffer, J. R. (1957). "Theory of Superconductivity". Phys. Rev. 108 (5): 1175–1204. Bibcode 1957PhRv..108.1175B. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.108.1175. 
  3. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1972". Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1972/index.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11. 
  4. ^ Swain, John (23 February 2011). "Book Review". CERN Courier. http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/45165. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
  5. ^ Beasley, Malcolm (July 2011). "Book Review". Physics Today. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1168. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
  6. ^ IJMPB Special Issue: 50 Years of BCS Theory