2026/07/28 by Andreas Kreisel
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.supr-con
34 pages, 15 figures, a pedagogical article to review and introduce the topic
arxiv created 2026/07/28 · arxiv updated 2026/07/30
The energy gap is one of the defining properties of a superconductor and appears because the quasiparticle excitations radically change once a metallic system enters the superconducting state. Unconventional superconductors typically exhibit a non-uniform gapping and therefore show physical effects that are subject to intense research. In this review, we provide an overview of concepts needed to understand how unconventional superconductors are different from conventional ones, where the gapping comes from and how it expresses itself in experimentally accessible quantities. This should give the basis to understand current open research questions and navigate the recent literature that tend to contain contradictory conclusions.