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For real gap and the particle-hole block $\left(\begin{array}{cc}{\xi }_k& -{\Delta }_k\\ -{\Delta }_k& -{\xi }_k\end{array}\right)$, the BCS coherence factors obey $u_k^2=(1+{\xi }_k/E_k)/2$, $v_k^2=(1-{\xi }_k/E_k)/2$ and $u_k{v}_k={\Delta }_k/(2E_k)$, where $E_k=\sqrt{{\xi }_k^2+{\Delta }_k^2}$. They diagonalize the Bogoliubov--de Gennes Hamiltonian and give the empty/pair amplitudes of the BCS ground state. Their relative sign depends on the pairing convention.

For an original check, write $x={\xi }_k/\Delta$ with constant real $\Delta >0$. At $x=0$, the BCS coherence factors give $u_k^2=v_k^2=1/2$. At $x=1$, they give $(u_k^2,v_k^2)=(0.853553,0.146447)$; at $x=-1$ these values exchange places. Thus the zero-temperature occupation $v_k^2$ rounds the normal Fermi sea's step over an energy interval of order $\Delta$. This mixing is strongest at the Fermi surface, where the BCS quasiparticle spectrum has its minimum.

The BCS quasiparticle spectrum is the positive excitation energy obtained by diagonalizing the paired particle-hole block. Here the weak coupling shell model has $\Delta \ll {\Omega }_D$: the minimum lies inside the pairing shell, and states outside it cost more. To derive it for a uniform isotropic real $\Delta >0$, measure the normal-state energy from the chemical potential, ${\xi }_k={ϵ}_k-\mu$, and use the same sign convention as the BCS coherence factors:Its eigenvalues are ${\epsilon }_{\pm }=\pm E_k$, where $E_k=\sqrt{{\xi }_k^2+{\Delta }^2}$. The positive $E_k$ is the cost of creating a quasiparticle above the BCS ground state. The lower branch $-E_k$ is its particle-hole partner in this doubled matrix description, not an excitation that lowers the ground state energy without bound.

The location and value of the minimum follow directly:The unique minimum as a function of $\xi$ is $E(0)=\Delta$, at the normal-state Fermi surface. On an isotropic three-dimensional Fermi surface it occurs for every direction of $k$, rather than at a unique point of momentum space. Near that minimum,Farther away, $E(\xi )\simeq |\xi |$ when $\Delta \ll |\xi |\ll {\Omega }_D$. For the illustrative $\lambda =0.25$ example, a state at $\xi =\Delta$ costs $\sqrt{2}\Delta \simeq 1.03644\mathrm{meV}$ rather than the minimum $0.732871\mathrm{meV}$.

Put $\xi =ϵ-{ϵ}_F$ and $\Delta =|\Delta |>0$. The BCS quasiparticle spectrum has $E=\sqrt{{\xi }^2+{\Delta }^2}$, so on either inverse branchConservation of states on one branch gives $D_{\mathrm{branch}}(E)dE=g({ϵ}_F)|d\xi |$. Consequently the single-branch expression requested in the source isThere are no such states for $0<E<\Delta$ in this ideal fully gapped model. Near the edge the density of states diverges as $(E-\Delta {)}^{-1/2}$, an integrable singularity; at large $E/\Delta$ it approaches its normal-state value.

Counting qualification. The energy map in the source is two-to-one. If $g(ϵ)$ literally counts all normal-state levels both above and below ${ϵ}_F$, the unweighted positive-energy quasiparticle density from a folded spectrum must sum both preimages, and is insteadAlready at $\Delta =0$, folding $\xi$ into $|\xi |$ doubles the positive-axis density. Thus the printed formula is not the unweighted count of all states under the literal mapping without an additional normalization convention.

There is also a standard physical quantity with exactly the printed normalization: the BCS electronic density of states, measured for example by single-electron superconducting tunneling. At positive $E$, the electron spectral weights of the two roots are the BCS coherence factors $u_{\pm }^2=(1+{\xi }_{\pm }/E)/2$. They sum to one, so the weighted sum is $g({ϵ}_F)E/\sqrt{E^2-{\Delta }^2}$. This supplies a valid electronic-DOS interpretation, while keeping it distinct from counting every positive-energy excitation. Spin degeneracy must be included consistently in $g$ and the transformed density; it does not remove the branch-counting issue.

In this fully gapped isotropic BCS quasiparticle spectrum, $\Delta$ is the minimum single-quasiparticle excitation energy. The interval between $-\Delta$ and $+\Delta$ has width $2\Delta$. A process that creates two quasiparticles from the BCS ground state has an energetic threshold $2\Delta$, subject also to its transition-selection rules.^[ref]

For example, two independently created excitations with ${\xi }_1={\xi }_2=0$ cost $E_1+E_2=2\Delta$. With the chosen cutoff example this is $1.46574\mathrm{meV}$, while adding one excitation costs at least $0.732871\mathrm{meV}$. This factor of two matters when comparing photon absorption with the Giaever superconducting tunnelling experiment. Quantum tunnelling from a normal metal can add one excitation to a sample exhibiting superconductivity; with two gapped electrodes, their excitation costs add. A minimum excitation cost is an energetic condition; the measured onset can additionally depend on temperature and on the available transitions.