THEORY OF NORMAL AND SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES OF FULLERENE-BASED SOLIDS

Recent experiments on the normal state and superconducting properties of fullerene-based solids are used to constrain the proposal theories of the electronic nature of these materials. In general, models of superconductivity based on electron pairing induced by phonons are consistent with electronic band theory and analyses of the measured normal state transport properties. The experiments on normal state transport properties also yield estimates of the parameters characterizing these type II superconductors. It is argued that, at this point, a 'standard model' of phonons interacting with itinerant electrons may be a good first approximation for explaining the properties of the metallic fullerenes.