Harvard University

Title: Superconductor to Insulator Transition in One Dimensional Systems in the Presence of Dissipation

Abstract: This talk will review the interplay of quantum fluctuations and dissipation in one dimensional superconducting systems: chains of mesoscopic grains and nanowires. In the former case dissipation leads to the existence of two types of superconducting states: the locally superconducting phase for strong dissipation and the globally superconducting phase for weak dissipation. In the case of continuous superconducting nanowires only the globally superconducting phase is possible. It will be argued that the superconductor to insulator transition in wires is determined by the total normal state resistance for short wires and by the resistivity for long wires.