Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: dvus Newsgroups: sci.physics Subject: Re: Superfluidity in topologically nontrivial flat bands Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 15:20:57 -0500 Lines: 37 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: individual.net lCOG2uP0lqoAho+MTUbq5Q8FEdqw7BQWSkhEqkRtnhH5jR/z6N Cancel-Lock: sha1:/IzS0n1Wff7DuuCWFlfldSlNhgY= User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.3.0 In-Reply-To: X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 151120-0, 11/20/2015), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Xref: csiph.com sci.physics:534250 On 11/20/2015 10:57 AM, Sam Wormley wrote: > Superfluidity in topologically nontrivial flat bands >> http://phys.org/news/2015-11-superfluidity-topologically-nontrivial-flat-bands.html >> > > >> Superconductors are marvellous materials that are able to transport >> electric current and energy without dissipation. For this reason, >> they are extremely useful for constructing magnets that can generate >> enormous magnetic fields without melting. They have found important >> applications as essential components of the Large Hadron Collider >> particle accelerator at CERN, levitating trains, and the magnetic >> resonance imaging tool widely used for medical purposes. Yet, one >> reason why the waiting list for an MRI scan is sometimes so long is >> the cost of the equipment. Indeed, superconductors have to be cooled >> down below one hundred degrees centigrade to manifest their unique >> properties, and this implies the use of expensive refrigerators. >> >> An important open problem in modern materials science is to >> understand the mechanism behind superconductivity, and in particular, >> it would be highly desirable to be able to predict with precision the >> critical temperature below which the superconducting transition >> occurs. In fact, there are no currently available theories that can >> provide accurate predictions for the critical temperature of the most >> useful superconductive materials. This is unfortunate since a sound >> understanding of the mechanism of superconductivity is essential if >> we are interested in synthesizing materials that may one day achieve >> superconductivity at room temperature, without refrigeration. "Indeed, superconductors have to be cooled down below one hundred degrees centigrade to manifest their unique properties..." Time for tea? -- dvus