Basic Foundations of the Microscopic Theory of Superconductivity

Abstract

A new approach based on macro-orbital representation of a conduction electron in a solid has been used to discover some untouched aspects of the phonon induced attraction between two electrons and to lay the basic foundations of a general theory of superconductivity applicable to widely different solids. To this effect we first analyze the net hamiltonian, H(N), of N conduction electrons to identify its universal part, H_o(N) (independent of the nature of a specific solid or a specific class of solids), and then study the states of H_o(N) to conclude that superconductivity originates, basically, from an inter-play between the zero- point force (f_o) of conduction electrons in their ground state and the inter-atomic forces (f_a) which decide the lattice structure. This renders a kind of mechanical strain in the lattice which serves as the main source of phonon induced inter-electron attraction responsible for the formation of Cooper type pairs and the onset of superconductivity below certain temperature T_c. We determine the binding energy of such pairs and find a relation for T_c which not only accounts for the highest experimental T_c = 135 K that we know to-day but also indicates that superconductivity may, in principle, occur at room temperature. It is evident that electrical strain in the lattice (i.e., electrical polarization of the lattice constituents produced by the charge of conducting electrons) can have an added contribution to the phonon induced attraction of two electrons. Our theoretical framework not only incorporates BCS model but also provides microscopic basis for the two well known phenomenologies of superconductivity, viz., the two fluid theory and Psi-theory. In addition, it also corroborates a recent idea that superconducting transition is basically a quantum phase transition.