Superconductivity is a phenomenon occurring in certain materials generally at very low temperatures, characterized by exactly zero electrical resistance and the exclusion of the interior magnetic field. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum mechanical phenomenon. It cannot be understood simply as the idealization of "perfect conductivity" in classical physics. Furthermore, superconductivity occurs in a wide variety of materials, including simple elements like tin and aluminum, various metallic alloys and some heavily-doped semiconductors. It does not occur in noble metals like gold and silver, nor in pure samples of ferromagnetic metals. This new book gathers the latest research from around the globe in this dynamic field and highlights topics such as superconducting miniundulators, superconducting transitions in wire networks, the orbital physics of superconductors, the superconducting circuits of Josephson junctions, and the types of stresses that affect superconducting properties and behavior.
