Thursday, November 12, 2020, 16:00
online only
Manfred Sigrist, ETHZ
Abstract:
Since four decades unconventional superconductivity remains one of the
most important and active topics of condensed matter research. To a
large extent this is driven by the discovery of new superconductors
whose properties deviate from standard superconductors. In this
colloquium I introduce the notion of unconventional superconductivity
based on the structure of Cooper pairs whereby the symmetry and
topology will play a crucial role. Chiral superconductors will be used
as an example of a topological superconducting phase which causes
intrinsic magnetism and universal properties in thermal transport.
Moreover, the role of key symmetries for Cooper pairing, time reversal
and inversion, is explained in order to understand properties of
superconductors lacking one of these. In particular, features of
non-centrosymmetric superconductors, lacking inversion symmetry, are
examined in view of their exotic properties.