Join the Hard Condensed Matter group in a seminar titled "Is high-temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-based compounds possible at low pressures?” with Ion Errea (University of the Basque Country, Spain).

Date: 21 October 2022, 2:00PM - 21 October 2022, 3:00PM

Live location: Enderby lecture theatre (PHYS BLDG B16/17)

Online: Zoom meeting (for information on how to join the meeting please contact jonathan.buhot@bristol.ac.uk)

Abstract:

Superconductivity above 250K at megabar pressures is an experimental fact in hydrogen-based compounds. In most cases theoretical ab initio calculations support the experimental claims and, in fact, have led lab work in the right direction. The question now is whether there are materials in this family, probably ternary compounds, that can keep such extraordinary critical temperatures at low, even ambient, pressure. In this seminar I will underline that, despite the theoretical calculations in ternary and multinary hydrides are very challenging, there are two results that give hope in the quest. First, the discovery of a simple correlation between the “networking value” and the superconducting critical temperature will allow to screen in the computer promising compounds fast. Second, ionic quantum anharmonic effects on the crystal structure can stabilize high-temperature superconductors at much lower pressures than expected neglecting these effects, which is the usual procedure.