On the dynamics of the Meissner effect

Abstract

The question of how a metal becoming superconducting expels a magnetic field is addressed. It is argued that the conventional theory of superconductivity has not answered this question despite its obvious importance. We argue that the growth of the superconducting into the normal region and associated expulsion of magnetic field from the superconducting region can only be understood if it is accompanied by motion of charge from the superconducting into the normal region. From a microscopic point of view it is shown that the perfect diamagnetism of superconductors requires that superconducting electrons reside in orbits of spatial extent $2{\lambda }_L$, with ${\lambda }_L$ the London penetration depth. Associated with this physics, the spin-orbit interaction of the electron magnetic moment and the positively charged ionic background gives rise to a "Spin Meissner" effect, the generation of a macroscopic spin current near the surface of superconductors. We point out that both the Meissner and the Spin Meissner effect can be understood dynamically under the assumption that the superfluid condensate wavefunction $\Psi (\vec{r})$ does not screen itself, just like the $\Psi (\vec{r})$ for an electron in a hydrogen atom. We argue that the conventional theory of superconductivity cannot explain the Meissner effect because it does not contain the physical elements discussed here.

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Momentum of superconducting electrons and the explanation of the Meissner effect
• The Bohr superconductor
• Magnetic flux expulsion in a superconducting wire
• Superconducting materials: the w$hole$ story
• Moment of inertia of superconductors
• Defying inertia: how rotating superconductors generate magnetic fields
• How Alfven's theorem explains the Meissner effect
• Belief in thermodynamics has provoked false thermodynamics of superconductors
• Why only hole conductors can be superconductors
• The Meissner effect in superconductors: emergence versus reductionism
• What holes in superconductors reveal about superconductivity
• The Meissner effect does not require radial charge flow