PHYS 7770 - Superconductivity from BCS Theory to Qubits

This graduate-level course provides in-depth coverage of superconductor physics. Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory is presented in details; it is shown how the theory explains most important manifestations of superconductivity: zero resistance, perfect diamagnetism, superconducting gap, and formation of vortices. The course covers the physics of superconducting tunneling, Josephson effect, and SQUIDs. The second part of the course presents contemporary development in the field. It includes superconductivity in low dimensions, symmetry and topology of the order parameter, superconducting qubits, basic ideas of quantum computing. Advanced methods of quantum mechanics such as second quantization and density matrix formalism are introduced and used to explain the BCS theory and other phenomena.