Colloquium

Why Can't We Solve the Problem of High Temperature Superconductivity

Mike Norman   
Argonne National Laboratory
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Higgins 310, 4 pm

Despite twenty years of hard work, and thousands and thousands of papers, the problem of high temperature superconductivity remains an unsolved one. It has even been suggested by Laughlin that it will never be solved because of its complexity. I will assert, though, that it is indeed a solvable problem, and that part of the reason for its currently unsolved nature is sociological. A good example of this is equivalent experimental results coming out of different groups with radically different interpretations. I will illustrate this with various examples, and also discuss the strong theoretical differences in the community which drive this behavior. I will conclude on the hopeful note that a unique solution will indeed be forthcoming in the not so distant future.