3 ms·
The interesting thing about this is that the work neatly fitted with existing theory: > Drozdov et al. observed this isotope effect and found that, compared wi
by PuffinBlue 7y ago
The interesting thing about this is that the work neatly fitted with existing theory:
> Drozdov et al. observed this isotope effect and found that, compared with the lanthanum hydride samples, the critical temperature in lanthanum deuteride samples is lower by almost exactly the amount predicted by the theory.
So like the article points out:
> From a scientific standpoint, these results suggest that we might be entering a transition from discovering superconductors by empirical rules, intuition or luck to being guided by concrete theoretical predictions.
Whilst this result might require huge pressures, steady progress towards a theory of super-conduction is an exciting thing indeed.
- tigershark 7y agoAlso it may open the road to find metastable material at room temperature, although I don’t think that it’s the case for lantanium hydride.
- djaque 7y agoI wouldn't be too optimistic. The theory they are talking about is BCS theory. Most of the other high TC superconductors cannot be explained with it and high TC BCS superconductivity so far requires crazy environments with no clear path to making them easier to use. With the kinds of pressures required to make this happen, it's probably easier to just buy liquid nitrogen and use other materials.