High-temperature superconductivity (history and general review)

An enormous number of scientific papers have been devoted to high-temperature superconductors. For this reason this report only touches upon certain topics. These topics include the history of the study of superconductivity and the discovery of high-T$_c$ superconductivity, the calculation of the critical temperature Tc of the superconducting transition and ways of increasing this temperature, and the mechanism that provides for high T$_c$ values. This report also examines the specific details of high-T$_c$ superconductivity within the framework of the macroscopic theory of superconductivity and the question of thermocirculational thermoconductivity in high-T$_c$ superconductors. Finally, a few comments are made concerning the future study of this topic.