ZPEnergy.com - CLOSING THE 'PSEUDOGAP' ON SUPERCONDUCTIVITY ...and more

One of the biggest mysteries in studying high-temperature (Tc) superconductors - materials that conduct electrical current with no resistance below a certain transition temperature - is the origin of a gap in the energy level of the materials' electronic spectrum. Brookhaven physicist Hongbo Yang presented his latest research on this "pseudogap" on Monday at the American Physical Society meeting.

Understanding the pseudogap may help scientists understand the mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity, which in turn could lead to the strategic design of superconductors for practical applications such as high-capacity, highly efficient power transmission lines.

There are competing theories for the origin of the pseudogap. In one, the material is considered a normal metal from which superconductivity starts to emerge via the pairing of electrons. In another, the pseudogap is thought to reflect the competition between superconductivity and another condition of the material - some other "ground state."

"Our new results indicate that the first theory is clearly incorrect, these are not normal metals that simply become superconductors," said Yang.

Yang presented his results of how the gap changes at various temperatures and with various levels of doping - that is, with different amounts of various other atoms added to the material.

"The results show that the underdoped system in the normal state behaves differently from all regions of the phase diagram in the superconducting state, and point to potentially different origins for the pseudogap," he said.

Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Via: http://www.physorg.com/news124625158.html
------------------

MODELING HOW ELECTRIC CHARGES MOVE, March 13
Learning how to control the movement of electrons on the molecular and nanometer scales could help scientists devise small-scale circuits for many applications, including more efficient ways of storing and using solar energy. Marshall Newton, a theoretical chemist at Brookhaven Lab, presents a talk highlighting the theoretical techniques used to understand the factors affecting electron movement at the American Physical Society meeting.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news124625273.html

TWO-DIMENSIONAL FLUCTUATING SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, March 13
Scientists at Brookhaven Lab have discovered a state of two-dimensional (2D) fluctuating superconductivity in a high-temperature superconductor with a particular arrangement of electrical charges known as "stripes."
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news124628116.html

THE WORLD'S LARGEST FUSION EXPERIMENT OF THE STELLARATOR TYPE TAKING SHAPE, March 13
The first milestone in the successive assembly of the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at the Greifswald branch of Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP), Germany, has been reached on schedule with the completion of the first two half-modules of the large-scale experiment: Two-tenths of the inner core of the device is now ready and is being assembled. Industrial production of the essential components for Wendelstein 7-X is almost complete. Construction of the complex device will take about another six years.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news124631405.html

PHYSICISTS DISCOVER HOW FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES LOSE TRACK OF QUANTUM MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, March 13
In today’s Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science, researchers report a series of experiments that mark an important step toward understanding a longstanding fundamental physics problem of quantum mechanics. The scientists presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society this week.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news124636936.html

CAN QUANTUM ANTIFERROMAGNETS REVEAL SECRETS OF BOSONIC SUPERSOLIDS?, March 13
“One of the fundamental issues in physics right now – and for the past many years – is whether or not bosons can form a supersolid phase,” Frédéric Mila tells PhysOrg.com. Mila is a scientist at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne Switzerland. “We show how a supersolid phase may be achieved in a quantum antiferromagnet.”
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news124629953.html