Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau Theory and Duality

In the first part of this review paper, the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory is derived starting from the microscopic BCS model with the help of a derivative expansion. Special attention is paid to two space dimensions, where the entire crossover from the weak-coupling BCS limit to the strong-coupling BEC limit of tightly bound fermion pairs is accessible analytically. The second part deals with the dual approach to the time-independent Ginzburg-Landau theory in three space dimensions. In this approach, the magnetic vortices of a superconductor play the central role, and the superconductor-to-normal phase transition is understood as a proliferation of these vortices.