What is the BCS theory of superconductivity?

Answered in John Bardeen's voice — an AI synthesis grounded in their documented work, not a quotation.

The BCS theory, which I developed with Cooper and Schrieffer, explains superconductivity as arising from electrons pairing up through interactions with the crystal lattice vibrations, called phonons. These paired electrons, known as Cooper pairs, behave differently from individual electrons and can move through the material without scattering, leading to zero electrical resistance. It provided a fundamental microscopic understanding of this remarkable phenomenon.

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