What do you mean by Cooper pair in real space and k space?

In summary, the conversation discusses the role of electrons in forming cooper pairs, the difference between theoretical and physical understanding of this phenomenon, and the lack of scattering and contribution to resistivity by cooper pairs due to their bosonic nature. The concept of breaking and recombining cooper pairs is also mentioned, with the suggestion that they form a Bose Einstein condensate to stabilize the current-carrying state. However, breaking the cooper pairs one by one in scattering is not feasible and would require significant energy.
  • #1
kau
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So i came to know that electrons residing across a tiny shell around fermi momentum takes part into the game of forming cooper pair but this phenomenon in real space is actually different. here all the electrons are taking part into this. what does it mean. i am not able to comprehend this physically. Also I have just started to read these so don't know much. But one thing i AM short of worried about why cooper pairs themselves don't scatter and contribute to resistivity. Is it because they are like bosons So that they just can pass through each other effectively(what i mean here is two fermions as a hole can be thought of as bosons I think at least theoretically two fermi operators does commute with other two).. Also why should not they get affected by impurities that is not clear to me as well. if someone physically try to motivate this that would be helpful,since algebra is fairly simple at this level but physical picture is somewhat obscure.
 
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  • #2
Also cooper pairs break up in scattering. However unlike normal electrons getting scattered in a current carrying state, the state that they get scattered into is energetically higher than the unscattered state. So sooner or longer, the electrons will recombine into the cooper pair they started off.
Of course, the energetic stabilisation of the current carrying state is due to the cooper pairs forming kind of a Bose Einstein condensate. The state with no current is energetically lower than the state carrying current, however, to get there, you would have to break all cooper pairs (carrying momentum) and re-pair them into cooper pairs with no momentum. But you can't get this breaking cooper pairs only one by one in scattering.
 

What is a Cooper pair in real space?

A Cooper pair is a pair of electrons that are bound together by an attractive force, known as the Cooper pairing force, in a superconducting material. In real space, this means that the two electrons are physically close to each other and exhibit correlated behavior.

What is a Cooper pair in k space?

In k space, a Cooper pair is described as a wave-like entity that represents the momentum of the two electrons in the pair. In this representation, the electrons are no longer seen as individual particles, but as a collective wave-like object.

How are Cooper pairs formed?

Cooper pairs are formed through the process of electron-phonon coupling. This occurs when an electron interacts with the vibrations of the crystal lattice, resulting in a decrease in energy and the attraction between two electrons.

What is the significance of Cooper pairs in superconductivity?

Cooper pairs are essential to the phenomenon of superconductivity. They are responsible for the zero resistance and perfect conductivity observed in superconducting materials, as well as other key properties such as the Meissner effect and energy gap.

Can Cooper pairs be observed directly?

Cooper pairs cannot be observed directly in real space, as they are too small to be seen with current technology. However, their effects can be observed through various experimental techniques, such as tunneling spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy in k space.

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