This book effectively explains key concepts, providing shortcuts to understanding each topic and enabling readers to quickly grasp the underlying principles. It is based on a course taught by the author and is primarily aimed at undergraduate and graduate engineering students.

This second, enlarged edition offers a novel, concept-driven approach to superconducting electronics, utilizing COMSOL Multiphysics to provide intuitive insight into fundamental principles.

 

The book is divided into three main parts. The first part introduces key topics in superconductivity, illustrated with COMSOL simulations based on the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations, while avoiding deep mathematical derivations. It includes numerous worked examples and problem sets with tips and solutions.

 

The second part is more advanced and follows a more conventional approach, providing detailed derivations of the fundamental equations from first principles. It covers advanced topics such as the BCS–Gor'kov–Eliashberg framework for equilibrium superconductivity, the derivation of kinetic equations for nonequilibrium superconductors, and the derivation of time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations used in the first and third parts.

 

The third part, new to this edition, presents more realistic COMSOL examples based on the advanced theoretical foundation developed in the second part. It addresses electric transport in arbitrarily shaped superconductors, proximity effects in dynamic regimes, and voltage- and current-biased weak links. Additional topics include a more general treatment of phase-slip centers and the analysis of the Aharonov–Bohm effect and related macroscopic quantum phenomena in superconductors.

 

Supported by an extensive online library of COMSOL Multiphysics model files and animations, the book serves as an accessible introduction for beginning researchers and readers with a less formal background in physics and mathematics, while also providing sufficient depth for those wishing to explore the subject more rigorously.

Dr. Armen Gulian is a Senior Research Scientist and Head of Chapman University’s Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Materials and Devices, located in Orange, California.

 

His scientific career began with a Ph.D. and postdoctoral research on nonequilibrium phenomena in superconductors and superfluids in the group of Nobel Laureate Vitaly Ginzburg.

 

Before establishing his current laboratory at Chapman University (previously the Advanced Physics Laboratory in Maryland, later relocated to California and renamed), Dr. Gulian founded the Laboratory of High-Temperature Superconductivity at the Physics Research Institute in Armenia, where he led the world’s first observation of phase-slip centers in high-temperature superconductors.

 

He has also worked on the development of quantum detectors at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where he proposed theoretical designs and carried out experimental demonstrations of novel cryogenic detector prototypes for X-ray and UV single photons.

Dr. Gulian’s early publications include work on the prediction of the “phonon deficit” effect (important for electronic cooling), the theory of superconducting quantum generators (with applications in terahertz radiation and high-resolution acoustic imaging), and the introduction of interference current in the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations (used in this book).

 

At Chapman University, Dr. Gulian focuses on the search for novel superconducting materials (including those operating under ambient conditions) and on the development of superconducting electronic devices, such as superconducting diodes, “quadristors” (analogues of semiconductor transistors), and gravitational-wave detectors, alongside his teaching activities.