Is This Why T c Is So Low?

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Abstract
As the temperature of a superconductor is lowered, the normal state makes a transition to a superconducting state. The temperature at which this happens should depend on the natural energy scales of the superconductor. In the copper oxide materials, however, one would expect a much higher transition temperature than is observed. Hence, the provocative question raised by researchers: Why is the transition temperature so low? In their Perspective, Balatsky and Shen discuss recent data on a number of high-transition temperature superconductors. One possible answer to the question is that the low transition temperature may be the result of charge carriers with unusually high effective mass.