Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

2 p.m., Thursday, October 21, 2004
Room 1201, Physics Building

Why Can't We Solve the Problem of High Temperature Superconductivity?

Mike Norman

(Argonne National Laboratory)

Abstract: Despite eighteen years of hard work, and thousands and thousands of papers, the problem of high temperature superconductivity remains an unsolved one. It has even been suggested by Laughlin that it will never be solved because of its complexity. I will assert, though, that it is indeed a solvable problem, and that part of the reason for its currently unsolved nature is sociological. A good example of this is equivalent experimental results coming out of different groups with radically different interpretations. I will illustrate this with various examples, and also discuss the strong theoretical differences in the community which drive this behavior. I will conclude on the hopeful note that a unique solution will indeed be forthcoming in the not so distant future.

Host: Chubukov
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