Making Cooper Pairs of Cooper Pairs?

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter calvinjhfeng
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of Cooper pairs in superconductors, specifically whether Cooper pairs can pair up to form new Cooper pairs and how this relates to the phenomenon of zero electrical resistance. Participants explore the mechanisms behind Cooper pair formation and their implications for superconductivity.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether Cooper pairs can pair up to form another Cooper pair, suggesting that this could contribute to the supercurrent's lack of energy loss.
  • Another participant notes that electrons are fermions and Cooper pairs are bosons, implying that the interactions between them differ fundamentally.
  • A participant emphasizes that Cooper pairs are dynamically formed from fermions and condense in momentum space, suggesting that considering pairs of bosons with opposite momentum may not be useful due to this condensation.
  • One participant expresses a lack of understanding regarding elementary particle properties, questioning whether the transition of electrons to bosons eliminates the need for further bonding to prevent scattering.
  • Another participant asserts that the condensation of Cooper pairs is a result of their bosonic statistics and suggests that repulsive interactions may be necessary for this condensation, although it can be conceptually understood as a property of their bosonic nature.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of Cooper pairs and their interactions, with no consensus reached on whether Cooper pairs can pair up or the implications of their bosonic nature for superconductivity.

Contextual Notes

Some statements rely on assumptions about particle statistics and interactions that are not fully explored, and the discussion includes unresolved questions about the mechanisms behind Cooper pair condensation.

calvinjhfeng
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
I wonder do cooper pairs make cooper pair in superconductors, like two cooper pairs pair up to make another cooper pair?
I am still unclear on how this mechanism work to produce the effect of zero electrical resistance.

I supposed all the electrons are paired up in cooper pair and these cooper pairs should be paired up too. That way everything moves forward (in a supercurrent) without any scattering or loss of energy due to collision.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Electrons are fermions. Cooper pairs are bosons. The forces between them is simply different.
 
Cooper pairs are *dynamical* pairing of fermions. Cooper pairs being bosons ultimately condense in momentum space. There is not much use in considering pairs of bosons with \pm \vec{k}{} since most of them will end up having the same momentum due to condensation.
 
vkroom said:
Cooper pairs are *dynamical* pairing of fermions. Cooper pairs being bosons ultimately condense in momentum space. There is not much use in considering pairs of bosons with \pm \vec{k}{} since most of them will end up having the same momentum due to condensation.

I have very little understanding of the properties of elementary particles. So the idea is that once electrons formed pairs, they become bosons and from that point on, extra bonding is unnecessary to avoid scattering effect?
 
The condensation of Cooper pairs is a property of their statistics (Bose-Einstein ). It has nothing to do with interactions between them. In reality I think one requires some sort of repulsive interactions for condensation to occur. But at an elementary level one may think of condensation of Cooper pairs as solely due to their bosonic nature.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
6K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
5K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
6K