p-State Pairing and Superconductivity of Monovalent Metals

The superconducting transition temperature $T_p$ for electron pairs which are in triplet spin states with relative angular momentum $l=1\mathrm{}$ is calculated for simple metals. From a theoretical estimate of $T_p$ for Na and K, it appears that superconductivity cannot be ruled out at millidegrees Kelvin in ultrapure Na [with a resistance ratio $\frac{\rho \left(273\mathrm{}°\mathrm{K}\right)}{\rho \left(4.2\mathrm{}°\mathrm{K}\right)}\sim {10}^5$].