Moment of inertia of superconductors

Abstract

We find that the bulk moment of inertia per unit volume of a metal becoming superconducting increases by the amount $m_e/(\pi r_c)$, with $m_e$ the bare electron mass and $r_c=e^2/m_e{c}^2$ the classical electron radius. This is because superfluid electrons acquire an intrinsic moment of inertia $m_e(2{\lambda }_L{)}^2$, with ${\lambda }_L$ the London penetration depth. As a consequence, we predict that when a rotating long cylinder becomes superconducting its angular velocity does not change, contrary to the prediction of conventional BCS-London theory that it will rotate faster. We explain the dynamics of magnetic field generation when a rotating normal metal becomes superconducting.

An error in Fig. 2 was corrected

References in corpus (4)

• Spin Meissner Effect in Superconductors and the Origin of the Meissner Effect
• Momentum of superconducting electrons and the explanation of the Meissner effect
• Electrodynamics in Superconductors Explained by Proca Equations
• Spinning superconductors and ferromagnets

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Defying inertia: how rotating superconductors generate magnetic fields
• Altering magnetic response of superconductors by rotation
• On the Chaplygin sphere in a magnetic field