On The Road To Understanding The High-T sub c Superconductivity: Normal State Transport And Other Telltale Experiments

Intense studies of the high-T sub c oxides have assembled a large catalogue of their physical properties. However, some of the key experiments are in dispute, and the concensus on the underlying microscopic mechanism of superconductivity is lacking. It appears that pairs responsible for superconductivity have most of the conventional BCS characteristics, but the "glue" which binds carriers into pairs is of a new, non-phonon, kind. Transport measurements in the normal state are among the telltale experiments which cannot be reconciled with the old phonon mechanism.