WEAK ITINERANT MAGNETISM AS INHIBITED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

The p-state pairing idea proposed recently to explain the ferromagnetism of ZrZn2 is described in more detail, and the underlying soft-mode hypothesis is examined in relation with experiments, in particular the discovery of antiferromagnetism in TiBe2. The key result, namely an electron-phonon contribution to the Stoner factor given essentially by the mass enhancement factor λ, is used to explain the behaviour of the Curie point Tm and to predict an isotope effect. p-state superconductivity with a transition temperature determined by λ is predicted in TiBe2 and, above the critical pressure where Tm=0, also in ZrZn2. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.