This book should fill a gap which has existed in the literature on supercon ductivity. There have been a number of excellent textbooks available on the phenomenon of superconductivity, which describe in detail the variety of ef fects connected with it and the mathematical techniques to deal with them properly. However, until now there has not been a textbook available in English which concentrates on the mate~ial aspects of superconductivity. This is a major shortcoming since most physicists working in the field of superconduc tivity are mainly concerned with specific materials and subsequently often need to know more about the interplay of superconductivity and material prop erties. On the other hand, people working in the field know that a competent and well-written book by S. V. Vonsovsky, V. A. Izyumov, and E. Z. Kurmaev has been available in Russian. It presents a thorough discussion of superconducting transition-metal alloys and compounds. This volume is a translation of an updated version of the Russian edition. The translation was done by A. P. Zavarnitsyn of the authors' institution and by Dr. E. H. Brandt of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Metallforschung in Stuttgart. The master manuscript was ably typed by Mrs. C. Pendl. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of them. I sincerely hope that the book will turn out to be useful to physicists working in the field of superconductivity as well as to nonspecialists and interested graduate students.

Klappentext

Translation of Sverkhprovodimost perekhodnykh metallov, ikh splavov i soedinenii.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 1.1 The Distribution of Superconductors Among the Elements of the Periodic Table, Their Alloys and Compounds.- 1.2 Survey of Theoretical Concepts.- 2. The Theory of Strong Coupling Superconductors.- 2.1 Perturbation Theory for Green's Functions.- 2.2 Eliashberg Equations for the Electron Green's Function.- 2.3 The Superconducting Transition Temperature.- 2.4 Calculations of the Electron-Phonon Coupling Constant ?.- 3. Superconductivity and Magnetism.- 3.1 Conditions for the Occurrence of Superconductivity in a Ferromagnetic Metal.- 3.2 Superconductivity in Dilute Ferromagnetic Alloys.- 3.3 The Coexistence of Superconductivity and Helical Magnetic Ordering.- 3.4 Magnetic Ordering in Superconducting Rare-Earth Compounds.- 3.5 Magnetic Impurities in Superconductors.- 3.6 The Kondo Effect in Superconductors.- 3.7 Nonmagnetic Localized States in Superconducting Alloys.- 3.8 Localized Spin Fluctuations in Superconducting Alloys.- 3.9 Spin Fluctuations in Pure Transition Metals.- 4. Superconductivity in Transition Metals.- 4.1 The Principal Parameters of Superconducting Metals.- 4.2 The Electron Structure of Transition Metals.- 4.3 Lattice Dynamics of Transition Metals.- 4.4 The Electron-Phonon Interaction and Tc in Transition Metals.- 4.5 Calculating the Electron-Phonon Interaction Constant from First Principle.- 5. Superconductivity in Transition-Metal Alloys.- 5.1 Types of Solid Solutions and Conditions of Their Formation.- 5.2 The Superconducting Transition Temperature of Alloys.- 5.3 The Empirical Correlations Between Tc and the Electron and Lattice Properties of Solid Solutions.- 5.4 Miedema's Empirical Method of Describing Concentration Dependences of the Properties of Metals.- 5.5 Theoretical Analysis of the Concentration Dependence of Tc inAlloys.- 6. Compounds with A-15 Structure.- 6.1 Physical Properties.- 6.2 Band Structure.- 6.3 Investigation into Theoretical Models.- 6.4 Analysis of the Electron-Phonon Interaction and Tc.- 6.5 The Theory of Structural Transition in A-15 Compounds.- 7. Other Compounds Based on Transition Metals.- 7.1 Intermetallics.- 7.2 Compounds with NaCl Structure.- 7.3 Compounds of Palladium with Hydrogen and Deuterium.- 7.4 Sesquicarbides and Ternary Borides.- 7.5 Chalcogenides.- 8. High Temperature Superconductors and Lattice Instability of Compounds.- 8.1 Comparison of Superconductivity in Various Crystal Structures.- 8.2 Types of Lattice Instability.- 8.3 Phase Transition in 0n Structures from the Point of View of Symmetry Theory.- 8.4 Correlation Between High Tc and Lattice Instability.- 9. Radiation Effects on Superconductors.- 9.1 Radiation Resistance of Superconducting Materials.- 9.2 Structural Investigations of Radiation Defects.- 9.3 Physical Properties of Irradiated Superconducting Materials.- 9.4 Theoretical Models for the Degradation of Superconducti ng Properties.- References.