p-wave pairing in metals

Abstract

It is argued that for most metals the pairing force is not much weaker for Cooper pairs in a $p$ state than in the conventional $s$ state. Because in an antisymmetric $p$ state the short-range Coulomb repulsion is not effective, $p$-wave pairing can be under certain circumstances, energetically favorable. A theory for pair breaking by impurity scattering is presented and it is concluded that $p$-wave superconductivity should be observable in a number of very pure metals such as Rh, W, Pd.