MaNEP e-Newsletter for members - Published monthly             Issue Nr. 11 - September 2006 / page 6

Reading tips
Book / New Superconductors : From Granular to High Tc
A recent publication by Guy Deutscher, Tel Aviv University (Israel)

How new are the high Tc superconductors, as compared to the conventional low Tc ones? In what sense are 		these oxides different from regular metals in their normal state? How different is the mechanism for high Tc superconductivity from the well-known electron-phonon interaction that explains so well superconductivity in metals and alloys? What are the implications of the new features of the high Tc oxides for their practical applications ? This interesting book aims to provide some answers to those questions, drawing particularly on similarities between the high Tc oxides and granular superconductors, which also present a short coherence length and a small superfluid density.
[ click here for more details ]

Good to know / A selection of science news and readings
Phil W. Anderson, the most creative physicist of the world ?
So says a a new analysis of scientific research papers. The study has been carried out by José Soler, a statistical physicist at the University of Madrid, who says that his "creativity index" could help universities to recruit and promote the best staff.
We will welcome Phil W. Anderson in UniGE on Wednesday September 27.

[ more details ]
World's first in-grid outdoor HTS cable now On-line

The transmission of electricity over the in-grid superconducting power cable system started in Albany, NY State, on the local date of July 20th 2006. This system uses high-temperature super-conducting cable manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. First in the world to be used in the used underground power grid, the super-conducting cable system undergoes a test for the next six months.

[ more infos ]

 G8 in Moscow : superconductivity clearly mentioned in priorities

Prof. René Flükiger informs us that superconductivity was an important issue during the last G8 summit in Moscow this summer. It is at least clearly mentioned in the related report, paragraph 39. The news have been forwarded to UE contacts in Bruxelles in the hope of boosting this important field of ours.

[ the full report ]
Violation of Kirchhoff's Laws for a Coherent RC Circuit

J. Gabelli, G. Fève, J.-M. Berroir, B. Plaçais, A. Cavanna, B. Etienne, Y. Jin, and D. C. Glattli.

Science 28 July 2006 313: 499-502.
DOI: 10.1126/science.1126940

[ link to the pdf ]

High Tc, a dead field within four years ?
This is the (depressing !) new analysis of German researchers ; they found that the number of papers in the field peaked in about 1990 and has been steady falling since then. By extrapolating the data, the researchers conclude that the numbers will drop to zero at some point between 2010 and 2015, provided that no groundbreaking discoveries are made in the meantime...

[ full article on PhysicsWeb ]

Europhysics news : don't miss the 2006 3rd volume

In the latest Europhysics News you can find one article by Dr Laurent Despont in the Highlights section. It is called : "Local polarisation in an ultra-thin ferroelectric".

[ dowload the PDF ]

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Send your own reading tips to the editor, thank you !

Thank you for the tips
this month :

Prof. O. Fischer
Prof. René Flükiger
Prof. Markus Buttiker
Dr Louis Antognazza
Dr Alfred Manuel
Dr Laurent Despont