BCS theory of superconductivity: the world's largest Madoff scheme?

Abstract

The time-tested BCS theory of superconductivity is generally accepted to be the correct theory of conventional superconductivity by physicists and, by extension, by the world at large. In a different realm of human activity, until very recently Bernard Madoff's time-tested investment operation was generally accepted as true and legitimate in the financial world. Madoff's Ponzi scheme, where old investors were being paid off by funds contributed by new investors, was fundamentally flawed, yet was able to thrive for decades because of many vested interests. `Red flags' suggesting its illegitimacy were ignored. Here I suggest that the same is true of BCS theory. There are an increasing number of `red flags' that strongly suggest the possibility that BCS theory may be fundamentally flawed. For example, an ever-growing number of superconductors are being classified as `unconventional', not described by the conventional BCS theory and each requiring a different physical mechanism. In addition, I argue that BCS theory is unable to explain the Meissner effect, $the$ most fundamental property of superconductors. There are several other phenomena in superconductors for which BCS theory provides no explanation, and BCS theory has proven unable to predict any new superconducting compounds. From one day to the next, Madoff's edifice came crashing down and a staggering 50 billion dollars evaporated, and I suggest that this may also be the fate of BCS theory. I outline an alternative theory to conventional BCS theory proposed to apply to all superconductors, `conventional' as well as `unconventional', that offers an explanation for the Meissner effect as well as for other puzzles and provides clear guidelines in the search for new high temperature superconductors.

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Cited by in corpus (33)

• A Perspective on Conventional High-Temperature Superconductors at High Pressure: Methods and Materials
• Superconducting hydrides under pressure
• Critical doping for the onset of a two-band superconducting ground state in SrTiO${}_{3-\delta }$
• Superconductivity in the elements, alloys and simple compounds
• The origin of the Meissner effect in new and old superconductors
• Absence of magnetic evidence for superconductivity in hydrides under high pressure
• Electromotive forces and the Meissner effect puzzle
• High Temperature Superconductivity: the explanation
• The London moment: what a rotating superconductor reveals about superconductivity
• Flux trapping in superconducting hydrides under high pressure
• Spin-split states in aromatic molecules and superconductors
• Hole core in superconductors and the origin of the Spin Meissner effect
• Entropy generation and momentum transfer in the superconductor-normal and normal-superconductor phase transformations and the consistency of the conventional theory of superconductivity
• On the dynamics of the Meissner effect
• Interplay between band structure and Hund's correlation to increase T${}_c$ in FeSe
• Dynamic Hubbard model: kinetic energy driven charge expulsion, charge inhomogeneity, hole superconductivity, and Meissner effect
• Does the Meissner effect violate the second law of thermodynamics? Comment on "The Law of Entropy Increase and the Meissner Effect" by A. Nikulov
• Superconductivity, diamagnetism, and the mean inner potential of solids
• Superconducting materials: the w$hole$ story
• Drude weight, Meissner weight, rotational inertia of bosonic superfluids: how are they distinguished?
• How Alfven's theorem explains the Meissner effect
• Belief in thermodynamics has provoked false thermodynamics of superconductors
• Strong-coupling superconductivity beyond BCS and the key pairing interaction in cuprate superconductors
• Phase separation in high-T${}_c$ cuprates
• Why holes are not like electrons. IV. Hole undressing and spin current in the superconducting state
• Spherical agglomeration of superconducting and normal microparticles with and without applied electric field
• Berry connection from many-body wave functions and superconductivity: Calculations by the particle number conserving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations
• Absence of Josephson coupling between certain superconductors
• Semi-classical understanding of flux quantization in superconductors
• On the origin of Stark effect of rotons in He-II and the existence of p = 0 condensate
• The Darwin-Breit magnetic interaction and superconductivity
• On the charged boson gas model as a theory of high Tc superconductivity
• Berry connection from many-body wave functions and superconductivity: Circuit quantization for superconducting qubits and absence of a dissipative quantum phase transition in Josephson junctions