Superconductivity promises to transform everything from power grids to personal electronics. However, getting low-waste energy to work at ambient temperatures and pressures proves to be easier said than done.
A discovery made by a team of researchers from Emory University and Stanford University in the US can help us find theories that may help us overcome obstacles.
The discovery involves what is known as oscillating superconductivity. Includes typical behaviors of superconductors Electron Partnerships Cooper pairs that move through materials without losing large amounts of energy in the form of heat are called cooper pairs.
It happens that the Cooper pairs in oscillating superconductivity move in a kind of wave-dance. Although “normal” superconductivity is rare, the oscillations do occur at relatively warmer temperatures, which makes the phenomenon interesting for scientists wanting to make superconductivity occur continuously at room temperature.
“We discovered that structures known as Van Hove singularities can produce modified, oscillating states of superconductivity,” He says Physicist Louise Santos, from Emory University in the United States.
“Our work provides a new theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of this behaviour, a phenomenon that is not well understood.”
these Van Hove singularities They are specific structures that occur in some materials, in which the energy of electrons can undergo unusual changes. This can have a significant impact on how matter interacts with external forces, and how it conducts electricity.
In this study, the team modeled Van Hove singularities in a new way. Modeling results suggest that, in some scenarios, these specific structures may swing superconductivity, which may give us new ways to manage or initiate it.
This is all higher-level physics, and only theoretical for now, but it improves our understanding of superconductivity at ambient temperatures Three times cooler than a regular kitchen refrigerator – still cool, but at generally manageable levels.
There is some serious debate about whether superconductivity has been achieved at room temperature, but it certainly has not yet been achieved in a way that would make it usable outside the laboratory or in bulky, expensive equipment.
Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by a Dutch physicist Heike Kamerling Onz in tests on Mercurybut it was not until 1957 that scientists understood How and Why for what was happening. Since then, we’ve discovered more about this phenomenon, including how it can come in the form of a wobbler.
The hope is that one day we will move electricity around the world more efficiently and cheaper. The ability of superconductors to create ultra-strong magnetic fields is already being used well: in MRI machines, in Maglev trainsAt the Large Hadron Collider.
“I doubt Kamerlingh Onnes had in mind levitations or particle accelerators when he discovered superconductivity, but everything we learn about the world has potential applications,” He says Santos.
Research published in Physical review letters.
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