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In classical superconductors Cooper-pair formation and phase coherence occur simultaneously as the temperature is lowered below Tc. In high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), on the other hand, the small superfluid density and low associated phase stiffness of the superconducting condensate are expected to lead to a separation of the Cooper-pair formation and the phase-coherence temperatures, especially in underdoped materials [3]. The only real phase transition in this scenario is the 3d-XY phase-ordering transition at Tc [3,4]. In our Letter [2] we showed that Tc in underdoped and optimally doped YBCO is just such a phase-ordering temperature, and then the question naturally arises - where do the Cooper pairs form? The observed 3d-XY scaling of our thermal expansion data over a wide temperature range [2] suggests that pairing occurs at temperatures considerably above Tc, and it thus appeared quite natural for us to associate the opening of the pseudogap at T*., Comment: 3 pages, 1 Figure (Reply to Comment by R. S. Markiewicz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 229703 (2002)

The thermodynamics of the superconducting transition is studied as a function of doping using high-resolution expansivity data of YBa2Cu3Ox single crystals and Monte-Carlo simulations of the anisotropic 3D-XY model. We directly show that Tc of underdoped YBa2Cu3Ox is strongly suppressed from its mean-field value (Tc-MF) by phase fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter. For overdoped YBa2Cu3Ox fluctuation effects are greatly reduced and Tc ~ Tc-MF . We find that Tc-MF exhibits a similar doping dependence as the pseudogap energy, naturally suggesting that the pseudogap arises from phase-incoherent Cooper pairing., Comment: 9 pages, 3 Figures

The thermal stability of C60 dimers and 2D pressure-polymerized C60 is studied using high-resolution capacitance dilatometry. The transformation of both the dimer and the polymer phases back to 'normal' C60 is excellently described by a simple thermally activated process, with activation energies of 1.75 1 0.1 eV (dimer) and 1.9 1 0.2 eV (polymer). These results are compared to previous data of 1D-polymerized C60 and photo-polymerized C60. The thermal expansivity of the 2D-polymer phase is as much as a factor of ten smaller than that of pure C60 and approaches values for diamond., Comment: to be published in: proceedings of Winterschool in Kirchberg on Molecular Nanostructures