Why mercury is a superconductor
Cesare Tresca, G. Profeta, Giovanni Marini, Giovanni B. Bachelet, Antonio Sanna, Matteo Calandra, Lilia Boeri
Abstract
In 1911, Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity, measuring the low-temperature resistivity in mercury. Nowadays, more than 100 years later, many new superconductors have been discovered with higher and higher critical temperatures. Ironically, the exact origin of the superconducting phase in mercury has remained hidden so far. The authors decided to revisit the description of this fascinating material with $a\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}b$ $i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}n\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}o$ techniques, revealing all its intricate physical properties. Despite its apparent simplicity, mercury hides effects that are anything but trivial. Their proper description is a challenging problem and requires advanced computational and theoretical techniques, which have become available only recently.