[Perspective] Putting the squeeze on superconductivity

Superconductivity is a fascinating quantum state of matter that has captured the imagination of physicists for over a century. The pioneering theoretical work of Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer described the superconducting state as a phase-coherent condensate of electrons bound into Cooper pairs, whose distinguishing hallmark, the order parameter, reflects the symmetry of the pair wave function. According to the laws of quantum mechanics, the wave function describing a pair of electrons must po