Cooper pair

English

Etymology

Named after American physicist Leon Neil Cooper.

Noun

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, $\xi$, 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.

Translations

pair of electrons

• French: paire de Cooper (fr) f
• German: Cooper-Paar n
• Italian: coppia di Cooper f

Further reading

• Cooper pair on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• BCS theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia