Superconducting State: Mechanisms and Properties, Vladimir Z. Kresin, Hans Morawitz, and Stuart A. Wolf, Oxford U. Press, 2014. $110.00 (272 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-965255-6
The discovery of superconductivity—a combination of ideal conductance and ideal diamagnetism—has significantly changed condensed-matter physics and materials science. Superconductivity has fostered the development of new concepts in physics and new applications. And it has done so even though physicists have yet to devise a reliable microscopic explanation of the superconductivity in the high-Tc materials whose discovery precipitated a paradigm shift in the field. They haven’t even reached consensus regarding the dominating mechanisms that govern superconductivity in the recently discovered new classes of high-Tc superconductors. As a result, experimental research into new superconductors that possess high-Tc and that can carry large current is an important driving force in materials science.
The field is now at a stage where a comprehensive survey is of extreme importance. That task is fulfilled by Superconducting State: Mechanisms and Properties. Authors Vladimir Kresin, Hans Morawitz, and Stuart Wolf present an up-to-date and comprehensive review of theory and experiments related to key features of superconductivity in conventional and new materials. They discuss mechanisms of superconductivity based on lattice, magnetic, and electronic degrees of freedom, and they analyze relevant experiments based on those models. More of a topical review than a systematic textbook, Superconducting State focuses on mechanisms of superconductivity and the related spectroscopies and omits such subjects as vortex physics and Josephson tunneling. That concentration is an advantage; with its restricted scope and modest size, the book will be accessible to everyone involved in the physics of superconductivity and magnetism.
Superconducting State differs significantly from Mechanisms of Conventional and High Tc Superconductivity (Oxford University Press, 1993), a previous work by the same authors; the primary difference is the descriptions of new superconducting materials discovered and investigated since the first work’s publication. Those new materials include iron-based pnictide and chalcogenide superconductors, magnesium diboride, and ruthenium cuprates. The authors compare specific features in the new materials with those known from the more well-studied cuprates and pay special attention to granular and homogeneous superconductors.
Other advantageous features include the presentation of several novel aspects of superconductivity, including multiband superconductors, the pseudogap state, and unusual isotope effects. I also particularly liked the theoretical sections, which are concise, clearly explained, and not overloaded with lengthy calculations. The book will be an inestimable resource for researchers and advanced students who are acquainted with many-body quantum theory, particularly the Green’s function techniques. I would also highly recommend Superconducting State to physicists, chemists, and materials scientists involved in the investigation and development of superconducting materials and devices.
Yuri Galperin is a professor of physics at the University of Oslo in Norway. His research interests include condensed-matter theory, with an emphasis on superconductivity in bulk materials and nanoscopic devices.
