John Bardeen and the theory of superconductivity
- Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
Bardeen's knowledge of the experimental data had bounded the theory of superconductivity quite tightly before B, C and S developed their theory. When one speaks with John Bardeen's friends about him, one frequently hears words such as brilliant, quiet, persistent, generous, visionary, athletic, kind, thoughtful and remarkable. It is the author's good fortune to have the chance to recount some incidents from his life that are connected with the theory of superconductivity. This article draws on the author's personal memories; his many other friends and colleagues will set down their own recollections elsewhere. The evolution of the microscopic theory of superconductivity closely parallels the scientific life of Joh Bardeen. Starting with his PhD dissertation, done under the guidance of Eugene Wigner, he spent much of his life developing an understanding of electron interaction effects and transport properties of metals, semiconductors and superconductors. His fascination with the remarkable phenomenon of superconductivity goes back to his graduate student days at Princeton. Although interrupted during the war years and in the late 1940's at Bell Labs, he returned to this perplexing topic when he moved to the University of Illinois in 1951. 20 refs., 7 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6607004
- Journal Information:
- Physics Today; (United States), Vol. 45:4; ISSN 0031-9228
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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