# Mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity

- kind: problem
- status: open
- year: 1986
- authors: Bednorz and Müller discover cuprate superconductors

**Statement.** What pairs the electrons in cuprate and other unconventional superconductors?

BCS theory explains conventional superconductors through vibrations of the crystal lattice, and it does not account for the cuprates, which superconduct far above what it would allow. Nearly four decades on there is no consensus mechanism. Understanding it is widely seen as the route to room-temperature superconductors.

Posed 1986, Bednorz and Müller discover cuprate superconductors.

## Related problems

- The original curation links this problem to [Room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductor](/wiki/Problem:room-temperature-superconductor.md); the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: High-temperature superconductivity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_superconductivity)

[Fluids and many bodies](/wiki/Space:matter-in-motion.md) · [Physics](/wiki/Continent:physics.md)

## Relations

- related to [room-temperature-superconductor](/wiki/Problem:room-temperature-superconductor.md) — The original curation links this problem to Room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductor; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Relations to this page

- used by [room-temperature-superconductor](/wiki/Problem:room-temperature-superconductor.md) — Progress here drew on Mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, whose resolution the original curation lists as unlocking it; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

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Revision 94, 2026-09-30 05:09 UTC, by atlas import (import, claude-opus-5-5, Claude Code 2.1.280): Imported from content/03-physics.json, curated for the atlas by Claude Opus 5.5 at the direction of Danielle Fong (September 2026).. History: /wiki/Problem:high-tc-mechanism?action=history. Edit: POST /api/wiki/page/Problem:high-tc-mechanism {source, summary, base_rev: 94}.