Ripples in a superconducting tidal pool
Jun 1, 2003
The behaviour of electrons in a metal is often compared to that of water in a pool. An empty pool is like a material that has all of its electrons removed. As electrons are "poured" into the metal, they first occupy the lowest energies available - the bottom of the pool - and eventually fill up to the Fermi energy, the top of the pool. At this point we no longer discuss electrons but quasiparticles. These are electrons that have modified properties due to their interactions within the material.
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