Physics Colloquium - Prize Colloquium: Physik-Preis Dresden

Event announcement pdf-Download.

Program:

• 16.00 Reception and snack

• 16.40 Prize ceremony

  • Opening and laudatio (Prof. Moessner, MPI-PKS, and Prof. Timm, TU Dresden

  • Prize talk by Prof. Jörg Schmalian - Failed theories of superconductivity

Abstract: The microscopic theory of superconductivity was developed  by John Bardeen, Leon N Cooper and J. Robert Schrieffer. It is among the most beautiful and outstanding achievements of modern scientific research. Almost half a century passed between the initial  discovery of superconductivity by Kamerlingh Onnes and the theoretical explanation of the phenomenon. During the intervening years the brightest minds in theoretical physics tried and failed to develop a microscopic understanding of the effect. We will discuss some of  those unsuccessful attempts to understand superconductivity. This not only demonstrates the extraordinary achievement made by formulating the BCS theory, but also illustrates that mistakes are a natural and healthy part of scientific discourse, and that inapplicable, even incorrect theories can turn out to be interesting and inspiring.

Short bio: Jörg Schmalian is professor for theory of condensed matter at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His research interest is the investigation of strongly correlated quantum mechanical many body systems. He and his research team develop theories for quantum materials with novel electric, optic, or magnetic properties. With his collaborators he predicted electron hydrodynamics in graphene and advanced the theory of nematic order and fluctuations in iron-based materials. He works on phenomena such as unconventional superconductivity, superconductivity without quasiparticles, quantum phase transitions, hydrodynamic transport, nano-electronics, magnetism, disordered systems and non-equilibrium dynamics. Schmalian received his doctoral degree in 1993 at the Freie University in Berlin. Prior to moving to Karlsruhe in 2011, he was a full professor at Iowa State University and Senior Scientists at the Department of Energy Ames Laboratory. Schmalian serves on a number of international advisory boards, has co-organized numerous international conferences, workshops and summer schools, and has been honored by several awards, including a fellowship from the American Physical Society, the 2022 John Bardeen Prize for superconductivity theory, and teaching awards at Iowa State Univ. and KIT.