MAGNETICALLY MEDIATED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY IN HEAVY-FERMION COMPOUNDS

In a conventional superconductor, the binding of electrons into the pa ired states that collectively carry the supercurrent is mediated by ph onons-vibrations of the crystal lattice. Here we argue that, in the ca se of the heavy fermion superconductors CePd2Si2 and Celn(3), the char ge carriers are bound together in pairs by magnetic spin-spin interact ions. The existence of magnetically mediated superconductivity in thes e compounds could help shed light on the question of whether magnetic interactions are relevant for describing the superconducting and norma l-state properties of other strongly correlated electron systems, perh aps including the high-temperature copper oxide superconductors.