The law of entropy increase and the Meissner effect

Abstract

The law of entropy increase postulates the existence of irreversible processes in physics: the total entropy of an isolated system can increase but cannot decrease. The annihilation of an electric current in normal metal with the generation of Joule heat because of a non-zero resistance is well-known example of irreversible process. The persistent current, an undamped electric current observed in a superconductor, annihilates after the transition into the normal state. Therefore this transition was considered as irreversible thermodynamic process before 1933. But if this transition is irreversible then the Meissner effect discovered in 1933 is experimental evidence of a process reverse to the irreversible process. Belief in the law of entropy increase forced physicists to change their understanding of the superconducting transition, which is considered a phase transition after 1933. This change has resulted to the internal inconsistency of the conventional theory of superconductivity, which is created within the framework of reversible thermodynamics but predicts Joule heating. The persistent current annihilates after the transition into the normal state with the generation of Joule heat and reappears during the return to the superconducting state according to this theory and contrary to the law of entropy increase. The success of the conventional theory of superconductivity forces to consider the validity of belief in the law of entropy increase.

17 pages

References in corpus (8)

• Persistent currents in normal metal rings
• Fluctuation Superconductivity in Mesoscopic Aluminum Rings
• Momentum of superconducting electrons and the explanation of the Meissner effect
• Observation of the Little-Parks Oscillations in a System of Asymmetric Superconducting Rings
• Dynamic processes in superconductors and the laws of thermodynamics
• Bohm's quantum potential and quantum force in superconductor
• A development of superconducting differential double contour interferometer
• Comment on "Reversible superconducting-normal phase transition in a magnetic field and the existence of topologically protected loop currents that appear and disappear without Joule heating" by Hiroyasu Koizumi

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Does the Meissner effect violate the second law of thermodynamics? Comment on "The Law of Entropy Increase and the Meissner Effect" by A. Nikulov
• Belief in thermodynamics has provoked false thermodynamics of superconductors
• A problem with the conservation law observed in macroscopic quantum phenomena is a consequence of violation of the correspondence principle
• The Meissner effect in superconductors: emergence versus reductionism
• Reasoning and Logical-Proofs of the Fundamental Laws: 'No Hope' for the Challengers of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
• On the dynamics of the Meissner and the Becker-London effects
• What holes in superconductors reveal about superconductivity
• Energy conservation and reversibility during thermodynamic changes of state in superconductors: Joule heat vs. magnetocaloric cooling
• Searching for quantum non-thermodynamic phenomena