Physicists Propose New Mechanism to Enhance Superconductivity with 'Quantum Glue'
A team of researchers, including scientists from HSE MIEM, has demonstrated that defects in a material can enhance, rather than hinder, superconductivity. This occurs through interaction between defective and cleaner regions, which creates a 'quantum glue'—a uniform component that binds distinct superconducting regions into a single network. Calculations confirm that this mechanism could aid in developing superconductors that operate at higher temperatures. The study has been published in Communications Physics.
Superconductivity is a state in which electric current flows through a material without resistance, losing no energy as heat. In ordinary conductors, electrons move independently and lose energy through collisions with atoms and impurities. In superconductors, however, electrons form Cooper pairs and move in unison, enabling current to flow without loss. Thanks to this property, superconductors are used to create powerful magnets, medical MRI scanners, and particle accelerators, and they also hold promise for developing new types of computing devices.
The challenge is that superconductivity usually occurs only at very low temperatures and is easily disrupted by impurities and defects in the material. These defects fragment superconductivity into isolated regions that fail to connect. Paradoxically, however, such disordered areas can also support the formation of Cooper pairs at higher temperatures. This creates a contradiction: structural disorder can locally enhance superconductivity, yet at the same time prevents it from spreading throughout the entire sample.
A team of researchers from HSE University, the Moscow Centre for Advanced Studies, and the Federal University of Pernambuco has shown that this challenge can be addressed by combining defective ('dirty') and clean subsystems. The team studied a two-band model in which one subsystem is highly disordered: superconductivity emerges there at higher temperatures, but only in isolated regions. The other subsystem remains clean, where superconductivity is weaker but provides connectivity. When the two are combined, a component arises that acts as a 'quantum glue,' linking the isolated islands and enabling current to flow through the entire sample at elevated temperatures.
Alexei Vagov
'Our calculations show that when defective and clean regions are properly connected, the material exhibits both a higher superconducting transition temperature and the ability to carry current without resistance. While disorder usually destroys this effect, we observed the opposite: defects can serve as a resource for creating more stable superconductors that operate at higher temperatures,' explains Alexey Vagov, Professor at HSE MIEM and co-author of the study.
Calculations confirm that this approach is effective for various types of disorder, ranging from random impurities to specially engineered superlattices. It is particularly promising for multilayer materials, where clean and disordered layers can be alternated; for compounds based on magnesium and boron (MgB₂), in which one electronic band enhances local superconductivity while the other facilitates current flow; and for materials with flat electronic bands, where electron pairing occurs more readily. Graphene- and graphite-based systems are also considered promising, as regular superstructures can form that alter electronic properties and promote stronger superconductivity. In the future, this could enable the development of materials in which defects and impurities do not hinder, but rather enhance, superconductivity.
The study was conducted with support from the Russian Science Foundation (Project 075-15-2025-010) and the HSE Basic Research Programme, using the university's HPC cluster.
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A team of Russian researchers, including scientists from HSE University–St Petersburg, has developed the first open multimodal dataset containing recordings of brain activity, heart function, and video observations to help researchers understand what happens in the human brain during deep concentration. In the future, the dataset could accelerate the development of neural interfaces, rehabilitation technologies, and AI systems. The article has been published in Scientific Data.
Scientists Propose Method for More Efficient Resource Use in Machine Learning
An international group of researchers, including mathematicians from the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, has provided a theoretical justification for a simple and computationally efficient method of estimating uncertainty in Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). The paper has been published on the scientific preprint server arXiv.org and presented at AISTATS 2026.
HSE University to Launch New AI Supercomputer
HSE University is preparing to launch its second supercomputer. The new cluster will be primarily dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and will complement the existing cHARISMa supercomputer. It is scheduled to become operational by the end of 2026.
Team Success: Aligning Means with Objectives
In corporations, sports, and academia, people often face challenges they cannot handle alone. In such cases, selecting the right team is crucial. Tatiana Mayskaya, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and the International College of Economics and Finance, together with colleagues from foreign universities, examined team characteristics and found that less diverse teams are better suited to objectives where a high average performance is important, whereas more diverse teams are preferable when avoiding failure is critical. The paper has been published in Economic Theory.
HSE MIEM Students to Develop Two Satellites from Scratch for Orbital Experiments
The devices, created by student teams, will conduct space research on the properties of promising solar cells, on-board energy storage systems, and serial electronics for student satellites.
Economists Propose More Effective Approach to Reducing Smoking
Economists at HSE University have examined how smokers respond to changes in cigarette prices. When tobacco prices increase, cigarette consumption does not always decline. In fact, spending on tobacco may even rise: according to the researchers, a 1% decrease in cigarette affordability leads to a 0.28% increase in per capita tobacco expenditure. The findings suggest that to reduce smoking rates, tobacco prices must rise faster than household incomes. The study has been published in Voprosy Statistiki.
Biologists Discover Unique Properties of MiR-93-5p MicroRNA in Prostate Cancer
Researchers at the International Laboratory of Microphysiological Systems of the HSE Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology investigated how different isoforms of the same microRNA influence gene function in prostate adenocarcinoma. The study found that in some cases, microRNAs can reinforce each other’s effects by targeting and suppressing the same genes. This finding offers a fresh perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying tumour development and on the search for disease biomarkers. The results have been published in PeerJ.
HSE Researchers Provide the World’s First Legal Definition of a Digital Ecosystem
Digital ecosystems have evolved from a technological innovation into a fundamental institution of the modern economy over the past few years. According to HSE University’s latest estimates, they account for 8.5% of Russia’s GDP. Previously, no jurisdiction had a statutory definition of what constitutes a digital ecosystem. HSE University researchers have addressed this gap by proposing the first legal concept of a digital ecosystem. Their article, ‘The Digital Ecosystem as a Novel Economic Phenomenon and Legal Concept,’ has been published in the BRICS Law Journal.
HSE Economists Use Search Queries to Forecast Birth Rates
Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have shown that the accuracy of birth rate forecasts for Russia can be improved by almost 50% by incorporating the dynamics of online search queries related to pregnancy and childbirth into forecasting models. In the best-performing models, the forecasting error fell from 4.6% to 3.2%. The findings have been published in Populations and Economics.
When Looking at Their Own Faces, Men Forget Everything
In an experiment involving 15 healthy men, scientists at HSE University investigated how different phases of the cardiac cycle influence the excitability of the motor cortex when participants viewed either their own photograph or the faces of strangers. The researchers found that when participants looked at their own image, the brain’s response to signals from the heart was weaker, meaning that the influence of cardiac activity on the motor cortex decreased. This finding came contrary to expectations, as self-focused attention was thought to enhance the brain's sensitivity to internal bodily signals. The study has been published in Frontiers in Signal Processing.