Leon Cooper showed that a filled Fermi sea changes the physics of electron pairing. In the idealized problem, even a weak attractive interaction in an energy shell above the Fermi surface can produce a bound pair. The result concerns electrons in the presence of the filled sea, so it is not simply the problem of two isolated electrons in empty space. This instability supplied a key microscopic ingredient for BCS theory and the Cooper pair description of superconductivity.[ref]
Bound Electron Pairs in a Degenerate Fermi Gas by Leon Neil Cooper. Physical Review 104, 1189 (1956), bound-pair problem above a degenerate sea
A physicist.[ref]
Professional profile of Leon Neil Cooper. Independent professional profile
[ref]https://physics.brown.edu/news/2024-10-30/leon. Independent professional profile
.jpg?width=260)
Portrait of Leon Cooper
. Associated Press; 20 October 1972; existing Commons crop by Wabbuh. Public domain in the United States: publication without copyright notice (PD-US-no-notice). Source usage terms, via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
.jpg){kind=link}
Leon Cooper is an American physicist known for his contributions to the field of condensed matter physics. He is particularly famous for his work on superconductivity and the BCS theory, which he developed alongside John Bardeen and Robert Schrieffer in 1957. This theory explains how certain materials can exhibit zero electrical resistance at very low temperatures.
New to topics? Read the docs here!