'Dressing' in superconductors: A new piece in the high-temperature superconductivity puzzle
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - 10:00
in Physics & Chemistry
"Imagine a heavy ball rolling on an elastic net: what happens?" asks Daniele Fausti, researcher at Elettra Sincrotrone of Trieste and the University of Trieste. That's how Fausti explains the concept of "dressing" in physics: "the ball's movement is slowed down because each movement is accompanied by a deformation of the net: the sphere no longer behaves like a free sphere (i.e., that rolls on a rigid plane), but like a sphere that is 'dressed' by the net's deformation". Why is this "dressing" concept so important? "Because it's what physicists believe explains superconductivity in conventional superconductors, that is, those that work at very low temperatures".