Physics Colloquium, November 12, 2002

Detecting Broken Symmetries in High-Temperature Superconductors

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Studies of symmetries and the consequences of breaking them have lead to deeper understanding in many areas of science. The high-temperature superconductors represent an intriguing new state of matter in that they break three important symmetries: Gauge, reflection and time-reversal. A general review of planar tunneling spectroscopy will be presented, and our development of these techniques to directly detect symmetry breaking in unconventional superconductors will be discussed.

3.30 p.m., Smith Laboratory, Room 1005

Refreshments served in Smith 1094 at 3:00 p.m.