Superconductivity of Metals and Cuprates

"I have enormously appreciated reading this book … As an experimental solid-state physicist and a materials scientist, I have learned a lot of things … well written, clear … a basic graduate school textbook on superconductivity. … a very complete, comprehensive, and illustrative work, which goes beyond the purely theoretical aspects. … good overview of superconductivity and covers a wide range of aspects, including applications. … Congratulations to the author."-MRS Bulletin"very useful, comprehensive, spanning a spectrum that includes phenomenology and history, microscopic theory, high-temperature superconductivity, and applications … sections on the macroscopic wave function, describing the superfluid behavior of the electrons, the Ginzburg-Landau model, and the Josephson effects … contain unique physical insights. …Especially noteworthy are the treatments of electron-phonon coupling, the relationship of the order parameter to the microscopic theory, and the nonlocal form of the BCS theory. … a heroic effort to cover the current understanding and present in a fair manner the various positions on many questions. Particularly strong are the considerations of electronic structure issues, properties of the normal state, and issues such as the spin gap and the pseudogap. …essential physical ideas are outlined, and the references … provide a clear path into the various subfields for the interested reader. … The comparison of the properties of the cuprates with … BCS theory is an excellent summary of a large number of experimental studies … a fine job in reviewing the experimental facts … contains many profound physical insights and … a comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of topics … certainly should be read by serious students of the subject."-Physics Today"… It is true that much of the intrinsic beauty of superconductivity is that it is basically a quantum mechanical phenomenon and any thorough treatment has to tackle this head on. John Waldram has met this challenge admirably … an impressive contribution and worthy of its subject. I can not recommend it too highly."-L.F. Cohen (Imperial College, London, UK), Contemporary Physics, Vol. 40, No, 1, 1999

• Preface. Introduction. The superfluid. The ideal phase transition. Ginzburg-Landau theory. Superconducting states with internal magnetic flux. Josephson effects. Groundwork of BCS theory. BCS properties for weak coupling. The meaning of the order parameter. The non-local form of BCS theory. Further theory and properties. The structure of cuprate superconductors. Electron states and bands in the cuprates. Normal-state transport properties in the cuprates. Superfluid and Ginzburg-Landau behaviour. Cuprates compared with BCS theory. Alternative theories of cuprate superconductivity. Applications of superconductivity. Appendix: second quantization. For further reading. Acknowledgments of copyright. Index and notation.