Cooper pair

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Named after American physicist Leon Neil Cooper.

Noun[edit]

Cooper pair (plural Cooper pairs)

  1. (physics) A pair of electrons (or other fermions), of opposite spin, whose theorised behaviour is the basis of the BCS theory of superconductivity.
    Synonyms: BCS pair, Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer pair
    • 1991, Werner Buckel, Superconductivity: Fundamentals and Applications, Wiley, page 42:
      The fundamental requirement for superconductivity is the existence of Cooper pairs.
    • 2000, Lynne Marie Merchant, Variation of the Superconductor Order Parameter in Quench-condensed Granular Films, University of California, page 8:
      This is because a superconducting state is composed of extended Cooper pairs. A coherence length, , describes the extension length of a Cooper pair over which the two quasiparticles remain bound as a pair.
    • 2004, Ludovic Pricoupenko, Hélène Perrin, Maxim Olshanii, Quantum Gases in Low Dimensions, EDP Sciences, page 173:
      This is a direct macroscopic manifestation of the presence of a condensate of Cooper pairs in a superconductor.

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