Quantum levitation (Meissner effect): scientific explanation. Meissner effect and its practical application Meissner condition

In 1913 German physicists Meissner and Oksenfeld decided to experimentally check how exactly the magnetic field is distributed around a superconductor. The result was unexpected. Regardless of the conditions of the experiment, the magnetic field did not penetrate inside the conductor. The striking fact was that a superconductor cooled below the critical temperature in a constant magnetic field spontaneously pushes this field out of its volume, passing into a state in which the magnetic induction B = 0, i.e. state of ideal diamagnetism. This phenomenon is called the Meissner effect.

Many consider the Meissner effect to be the most fundamental property of superconductors. Indeed, the existence of zero resistance inevitably follows from this effect. After all, surface screening currents are constant in time and do not decay in an unmeasured magnetic field. In a thin surface layer of a superconductor, these currents create their own magnetic field, which is strictly equal and opposite to the external field. In a superconductor, these two counter magnetic fields are added so that the total magnetic field becomes zero, although the terms of the field exist together, and therefore they talk about the effect of “pushing out” the external magnetic field from a superconductor.

Let the ideal conductor be cooled below the critical temperature in the initial state and there is no external magnetic field. Let us now introduce such an ideal conductor into an external magnetic field. The field in the sample is not penetrates, which is shown schematically in Fig. 1 . Immediately upon the appearance of an external field, a current arises on the surface of an ideal conductor, which, according to the Lenz rule, creates its own magnetic field directed towards the applied one, and the total field in the sample will be equal to zero.

This can be proven using Maxwell's equations. When changing the induction IN an electric field E should appear inside the sample:

Where With is the speed of light in vacuum. But in an ideal conductor R = 0, since

E = jc,

where c is the resistivity, which in our case is zero, j is the density of the induced current. Hence it follows that B=const, but since before entering the sample into the field IN= 0, then it is clear that IN= 0 and after entering into the field. This can also be interpreted as follows: since c \u003d 0, the time for the penetration of the magnetic field into an ideal conductor is infinite.

So, an ideal conductor introduced into an external magnetic field has IN= 0 at any point of the sample. However, the same state (ideal conductor at T<T With in an external magnetic field) can be achieved in another way: first, apply an external field to a “warm” sample, and then cool it to a temperature T<T With .

Electrodynamics predicts a completely different result for an ideal conductor. Indeed, the sample T>T With It has resistance and the magnetic field penetrates well into it. After cooling it down T With the field will remain in the sample. This situation is shown in Fig. 2.

Thus, in addition to zero resistance, superconductors have one more fundamental property - ideal diamagnetism. The disappearance of the magnetic field inside is due to the appearance of undamped surface currents in the superconductor. But the magnetic field cannot be pushed out completely, because. this would mean that on the surface the magnetic field falls abruptly from the final value IN down to zero. To do this, it is necessary that a current of infinite density flow over the surface, which is impossible. Consequently, the magnetic field penetrates deep into the superconductor, to a certain depth l.

The Meissner-Oxenfeld effect is observed only in weak fields. With an increase in the magnetic field strength to a value H cm the superconducting state is destroyed. This field is called critical. H cm.The relationship between the critical magnetic field and the critical temperature is well described by the empirical formula (6).

H cm (T)=H cm (0) [1-(T/T c ) 2 ] (6)

Where H cm (0) - critical field extrapolated to absolute zero .

A graph of this dependence is shown in Figure 3. This graph can also be considered as a phase diagram, where each point of the gray part corresponds to the superconducting state, and the white region corresponds to the normal one.

According to the nature of the penetration of the magnetic field, superconductors are divided into superconductors of the first and second kind. The magnetic field does not penetrate into the superconductor of the first kind until the field strength reaches the value H cm. If the field exceeds the critical value, then the superconducting state is destroyed and the field completely penetrates the sample. Superconductors of the first kind include all the chemical elements of superconductors, except for niobium.

It was calculated that during the transition of the metal from the normal state to the superconducting state, some work is done. What exactly is the source of this work? The fact that the energy of a superconductor is lower than that of the same metal in its normal state.

It is clear that a superconductor can afford the “luxury” of the Meissner effect at the expense of energy gain. The expulsion of the magnetic field will take place as long as the increase in energy associated with this phenomenon is compensated by its more effective decrease associated with the transition of the metal to the superconducting state. In sufficiently magnetic fields, it is not the superconducting, but the normal state, in which the field freely penetrates the sample, that is energetically more favorable.

An even more important property of a superconductor than zero electrical resistance is the so-called Meissner effect, which consists in the displacement of a constant magnetic field from a superconductor. From this experimental observation, a conclusion is made about the existence of undamped currents inside the superconductor, which create an internal magnetic field that is opposite to the external applied magnetic field and compensates for it.

A sufficiently strong magnetic field at a given temperature destroys the superconducting state of matter. A magnetic field with strength H c , which at a given temperature causes the transition of a substance from a superconducting state to a normal one, is called a critical field. As the temperature of the superconductor decreases, the value of H c increases. The temperature dependence of the critical field is described with good accuracy by the expression

where is the critical field at zero temperature. Superconductivity also disappears when an electric current is passed through a superconductor with a density greater than the critical one, since it creates a magnetic field greater than the critical one.

The destruction of the superconducting state under the action of a magnetic field is different for type I and type II superconductors. For type II superconductors, there are 2 values of the critical field: H c1 at which the magnetic field penetrates the superconductor in the form of Abrikosov vortices and H c2 - at which the superconductivity disappears.

isotopic effect

The isotopic effect in superconductors is that the temperatures T c are inversely proportional to the square roots of the atomic masses of the isotopes of the same superconducting element. As a result, monoisotope preparations differ somewhat in critical temperatures from the natural mixture and from each other.

London moment

A rotating superconductor generates a magnetic field precisely aligned with the axis of rotation, the resulting magnetic moment is called the "London moment". It was used, in particular, in the scientific satellite "Gravity Probe B", where the magnetic fields of four superconducting gyroscopes were measured to determine their axis of rotation. Since the rotors of gyroscopes were almost perfectly smooth spheres, using the London moment was one of the few ways to determine their axis of rotation.

Applications of superconductivity

Significant progress has been made in obtaining high-temperature superconductivity. On the basis of cermets, for example, the composition YBa 2 Cu 3 O x , substances have been obtained for which the temperature T c of the transition to the superconducting state exceeds 77 K (the liquefaction temperature of nitrogen). Unfortunately, almost all high-temperature superconductors are not technologically advanced (brittle, do not have stable properties, etc.), as a result of which superconductors based on niobium alloys are still mainly used in technology.

The phenomenon of superconductivity is used to obtain strong magnetic fields (for example, in cyclotrons), since there are no heat losses during the passage of strong currents through the superconductor that create strong magnetic fields. However, due to the fact that the magnetic field destroys the state of superconductivity, so-called magnetic fields are used to obtain strong magnetic fields. superconductors of the second kind, in which the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetic field is possible. In such superconductors, the magnetic field causes the appearance of thin threads of a normal metal penetrating the sample, each of which carries a quantum of magnetic flux (Abrikosov vortices). The substance between the threads remains superconducting. Since there is no full Meissner effect in a type II superconductor, superconductivity exists up to much higher values of the magnetic field H c 2 . In technology, the following superconductors are mainly used:

There are photon detectors based on superconductors. Some use the presence of a critical current, they also use the Josephson effect, Andreev reflection, etc. So, there are superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPD) for detecting single photons in the IR range, which have a number of advantages over detectors of a similar range (PMT, etc.), using other methods of registration .

Comparative characteristics of the most common IR detectors based on non-superconductivity properties (the first four), as well as superconducting detectors (the last three):

Type of detector	Maximum counting rate, s −1	Quantum efficiency, %	, c −1	NEP Tue
InGaAs PFD5W1KSF APS (Fujitsu)
R5509-43 PMT (Hamamatsu)
Si APD SPCM-AQR-16 (EG\&G)
Mepsicron II (Quantar)

			less than 1 10 -3	less than 1 10 -19
			less than 1 10 -3

Vortices in type II superconductors can be used as memory cells. Some magnetic solitons have already found similar applications. There are also more complex two- and three-dimensional magnetic solitons, reminiscent of vortices in liquids, only the role of streamlines in them is played by lines along which elementary magnets (domains) line up.

The absence of heating losses during the passage of direct current through a superconductor makes the use of superconducting cables for the delivery of electricity attractive, since a single thin underground cable is able to transmit power, which in the traditional method requires the creation of a power line circuit with several cables of much greater thickness. Problems that prevent widespread use are the cost of cables and their maintenance - liquid nitrogen must be constantly pumped through superconducting lines. The first commercial superconducting transmission line was commissioned by American Superconductor on Long Island in New York in late June 2008. Power systems of South Korea are going to create by 2015 superconducting transmission lines with a total length of 3000 km.

An important application is found in miniature superconducting ring devices - SQUIDs, whose operation is based on the relationship between changes in magnetic flux and voltage. They are part of supersensitive magnetometers that measure the Earth's magnetic field, and are also used in medicine to obtain magnetograms of various organs.

Superconductors are also used in maglevs.

The phenomenon of the dependence of the temperature of the transition to the superconducting state on the magnitude of the magnetic field is used in cryotrons-controlled resistances.

A magnet in a superconducting cup doused with liquid nitrogen floats like Mahomet's Coffin...

The legendary "Coffin of Mohammed" fit into the "scientific" picture of the world in 1933 as the "Meissner Effect": located above the superconductor, the magnet rises and begins to levitate. scientific fact. And the “scientific picture” (that is, the myth of those who explain scientific facts) is as follows: “a constant, not too strong magnetic field is pushed out of a superconducting sample” - and everything immediately became clear and understandable. But those who build their own picture of the world are not forbidden to think that they are dealing with levitation. Who likes what. By the way, those who are not blinded by the “scientific picture of the world” are more productive in science. This is what we'll talk about now.

And the case is God, the inventor ...

In general, it was not easy to observe the "Meissner-Mohammed effect": liquid helium was needed. But in September 1986, when G. Bednorz and A. Muller reported that high-temperature superconductivity is possible in ceramic samples based on Ba-La-Cu-O. This completely contradicted the “scientific picture of the world” and the guys would have been quickly dismissed with this, but it was the “Coffin of Mohammed” that helped: the phenomenon of superconductivity could now be freely demonstrated to anyone and anywhere, and so all other explanations of the “scientific picture of the world” contradicted even more , then superconductivity at high temperatures was quickly recognized, and these guys received their Nobel Prize the very next year! - Compare with the founder of the theory of superconductivity - Pyotr Kapitsa, who discovered superconductivity fifty years ago, and received the Nobel Prize only eight years earlier than these guys ...

Before proceeding, check out Mohammed-Meissner's levitation in the following video.

Before the start of the experiment, a superconductor made of special ceramics ( YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x) are cooled by pouring liquid nitrogen on it so that it acquires its "magic" properties.

In 1992, at the University of Tampere (Finland), Russian scientist Evgeny Podkletnov conducted research on the properties of screening with superconducting ceramics of various electromagnetic fields. However, during the experiments, quite by accident, an effect was discovered that does not fit into the framework of classical physics. Podkletnov called it "gravity screening" and, with a co-author, published a preliminary report.

Podkletnov rotated a "frostbitten" superconducting disk in an electromagnetic field. And then one day, someone in the laboratory lit a pipe and the smoke that fell into the area above the rotating disk suddenly rushed up! Those. smoke, over the disc was losing weight! Measurements with objects from other materials confirmed the conjecture, not perpendicular, but generally opposite to the "scientific picture of the world": it turned out that it was possible to protect oneself from the "all-penetrating" force of universal gravitation!
But, in contrast to the visual effect of the Meissner-Mohammed here, the visibility was much lower: the weight loss was a maximum of about 2%.

The report on the experiment was completed by Evgeny Podkletnov in January 1995 and sent to D. Modanese, who asked him to give the name necessary for citation in his work “Theoretical analysis ...” of the Los Alamos preprint library that appeared in May (hep-th / 9505094) and the leading theoretical basis for the experiments. This is how the MSU identifier appeared - chem 95 (or in the transcription of Moscow State University - chemistry 95).

Podkletnov's article was rejected by several scientific journals until, finally, it was accepted for publication (in October 1995) in the prestigious Journal of Applied Physics, published in England (The Journal of Physics-D: Applied Physics, a publication of England's Institute Physics). It seemed that the discovery was about to secure, if not recognition, then at least the interest of the scientific world. However, it didn't work out that way.

The first article was published by publications far from science, who do not observe the purity of the "scientific picture of the world" - today they will write about green men and flying saucers, and tomorrow about antigravity - it would be interesting to the reader, no matter whether it fits or does not fit into the "scientific" picture of the world.
A representative of the University of Tampere stated that anti-gravity issues were not dealt with within the walls of this institution. The co-authors of the article Levit and Vuorinen, who provided technical support, fearing a scandal, disowned the laurels of the discoverers, and Evgeny Podkletnov was forced to remove the prepared text in the journal.

However, the curiosity of scientists won. In 1997, a NASA team in Huntsville, Alabama, repeated the Podkletny experiment using their setup. A static test (without rotation of the HTSC disk) did not confirm the effect of gravity screening.

However, it could not be otherwise: The previously mentioned Italian theoretical physicist Giovanni Modanese, in his report presented in October 1997 at the 48th Congress of the IAF (International Federation of Astronautics), held in Turin, noted, supported by theory, the need to use a two-layer ceramic HTSC disk to obtain the effect with different critical temperatures of the layers (However, Podkletnov also wrote about this). This work was further developed in the article "Gravitational Anomalies by HTC superconductors: a 1999 Theoretical Status Report.". By the way, an interesting conclusion is also presented there, about the impossibility of building aircraft that use the effect of "gravity screening", although the theoretical possibility of building gravity elevators - "lifts

Gravity variations were soon discovered by Chinese scientists. in the course of measuring the change in gravity during a total solar eclipse, very little, but indirectly, confirms the possibility of "screening gravity". This is how the “scientific” picture of the world began to change; create a new myth.

With this in mind, the following questions are worth asking:
- and where were the notorious "scientific predictions" - why didn't science predict the anti-gravity effect?
- Why does Chance decide everything? Moreover, armed with a scientific picture of the world, scientists, even after they were chewed and put in their mouths, could not repeat the experiment? What kind of case is this, which comes into one head, and simply cannot be hammered into the other?

Russian fighters against pseudoscience distinguished themselves even more abruptly, which in our country until the end of his days was led by the militant materialist Yevgeny Ginzburg. Professor from the Institute of Physical Problems. P.L. Kapitsa RAS Maxim Kagan stated:
Podkletnov's experiments look rather strange. At two recent international conferences on superconductivity in Boston (USA) and Dresden (Germany), where I participated, his experiments were not discussed. It is not widely known to specialists. Einstein's equations, in principle, allow the interaction of electromagnetic and gravitational fields. But in order for such an interaction to become noticeable, colossal electromagnetic energy is needed, comparable to Einstein's rest energy. We need electric currents many orders of magnitude higher than those that are achievable in modern laboratory conditions. Therefore, we have no real experimental possibilities to change the gravitational interaction.
- What about NASA?
-NASA has a lot of money for R&D. They test many ideas. They even check ideas that are very dubious, but attractive to a wide audience ... We study the real properties of superconductors ....»

- So here it is: we are realists-materialists, and there semi-literate Americans can throw money right and left to please lovers of the occult and other pseudoscience, this, they say, is their business.

Those who wish can learn more about the work.

Podkletnov-Modanese anti-gravity gun

Schematic of the "Anti-Gravity Gun"

He trampled on realist compatriots Podkletnov to the fullest. Together with the theorist Modanese, he created, figuratively speaking, an anti-gravity gun.

In the preface to the publication, Podkletnov wrote the following: “I do not publish works on gravity in Russian, so as not to embarrass my colleagues and the administration. There are enough other problems in our country, and no one is interested in science. You can freely use the text of my publications in a competent translation ...
Please do not associate these works with flying saucers and aliens, not because they do not exist, but because it causes a smile and no one wants to finance ridiculous projects. My work on gravity is very serious physics and carefully performed experiments. We operate with the possibility of modifying the local gravitational field based on the theory of vacuum energy fluctuations and the theory of quantum gravity».

And so, the work of Podkletnov, unlike the Russian know-it-alls, did not seem funny, for example, to the Boeing company, which launched extensive research on this “funny” topic.

And Podkletnov and Modanese created a device that allows you to control gravity, more precisely - antigravity . (Report on the website of the Los Alamos Laboratory is available). " Controlled gravitational impulse" makes it possible to provide a short-term shock effect on any objects at a distance of tens and hundreds of kilometers, which makes it possible to create new systems for moving in space, communication systems, etc.» . In the text of the article, this is not evident, but you should pay attention to the fact that this impulse repels rather than attracts objects. Apparently, given that the term "gravity shielding" is not appropriate in this case, only the fact that the word "antigravity" is "taboo" for science, forces authors to avoid using it in the text.

At a distance of 6 to 150 meters from the installation, in another building, measuring

Vacuum flask with pendulum

devices that are ordinary pendulums in vacuum flasks.

Various materials were used to make pendulum spheres: metal, glass, ceramics, wood, rubber, plastic. The installation was separated from the measuring instruments located at a distance of 6 m by a 30 cm brick wall and a steel sheet 1x1.2x0.025 m. The measuring systems located at a distance of 150 m were additionally enclosed by a brick wall 0.8 m thick. In the experiment no more than five pendulums located on the same line were used. All their testimonies matched.
A condenser microphone was used to characterize the gravitational pulse - especially its frequency spectrum. The microphone was connected to a computer and was in a plastic spherical box filled with porous rubber. It was placed along the aiming line after the glass cylinders and had the possibility of various orientations to the direction of the discharge axis.
The impulse launched the pendulum, which was observed visually. The delay time of the beginning of the pendulum oscillations was very small and was not measured. Then the natural oscillations gradually faded. Technically, it was possible to compare the signal from the discharge and the response received from the microphone, which has a typical behavior of an ideal pulse:
It should be noted that no signal was detected outside the area of the sight and it seems that the "beam of power" had well-defined boundaries.

The dependence of the pulse strength (the angle of deflection of the pendulum) was found not only on the discharge voltage, but also on the type of emitter.

The temperature of the pendulums did not change during the experiments. The force acting on the pendulums did not depend on the material and was proportional only to the mass of the sample (in the experiment from 10 to 50 grams). Pendulums of different masses showed equal deflection at constant voltage. This has been proven by a large number of measurements. Deviations in the strength of the gravitational impulse were also found within the projection area of the emitter. These deviations (up to 12–15%) are attributed by the authors to possible inhomogeneities of the emitter.

Impulse measurements, in the range of 3-6 m, 150 m (and 1200 m) from the experimental setup, gave, within the experimental errors, identical results. Since these measurement points, apart from air, were also separated by a thick brick wall, it can be assumed that the gravity impulse was not absorbed by the medium (or the losses were insignificant). The mechanical energy "absorbed" by each pendulum depended on the discharge voltage. Indirect evidence that the observed effect is of a gravitational nature is the established fact of the inefficiency of electromagnetic shielding. With the gravitational effect, the acceleration of any body experiencing impulsive action should, in principle, be independent of the mass of the body.

P.S.

I'm a skeptic and don't really believe this is even possible. The fact is that there are completely ridiculous explanations for this phenomenon, including in physics journals, such as that they have such developed back muscles. Why not buttocks?!

AND like this: the Boeing company has launched extensive research on this “ridiculous” topic ... And is it funny now to think that someone will have a gravitational weapon capable of, say, producing an earthquake .

But what about science? It's time to understand: science does not invent or discover anything. People discover and invent, discover new phenomena, discover new patterns, and this is already becoming a science, using which other people can make predictions, but only within the framework of those models and those conditions for which open models are correct, but go beyond these models science itself cannot.

For example, what is better than the “scientific picture of the world”, the one that at the beginning, than the one that they began to use later? Yes, only convenience, but what does both have to do with reality? Same! And if Carnot substantiated the limits of the efficiency of a heat engine using the concept of caloric, then, therefore, this “picture of the world” is no worse than the one that these were balls-molecules knocking against the walls of a cylinder. Why is one model better than another? Nothing! Each model is correct in some sense, within some limits.

The question for science is on the agenda: to explain how yogis, sitting on their ass, jump up half a meter?!

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When a superconductor is cooled in an external constant magnetic field, at the moment of transition to the superconducting state, the magnetic field is completely displaced from its volume. This distinguishes a superconductor from an ideal conductor, in which, when the resistance drops to zero, the magnetic field induction in the volume must remain unchanged.

The absence of a magnetic field in the volume of the conductor allows us to conclude from the general laws of the magnetic field that only surface current exists in it. It is physically real and therefore occupies some thin layer near the surface. The magnetic field of the current destroys the external magnetic field inside the superconductor. In this respect, the superconductor behaves formally as an ideal diamagnet. However, it is not a diamagnet, since the magnetization inside it is zero.

The Meissner effect cannot be explained by infinite conductivity alone. For the first time, its nature was explained by the brothers Fritz and Heinz London using the London equation. They showed that in a superconductor the field penetrates to a fixed depth from the surface - the London depth of penetration of the magnetic field λ (\displaystyle \lambda ). For metals λ ∼ 10 − 2 (\displaystyle \lambda \sim 10^(-2))µm.

Type I and II superconductors

Pure substances in which the phenomenon of superconductivity is observed are not numerous. More often, superconductivity occurs in alloys. For pure substances, the full Meissner effect takes place, while for alloys there is no complete expulsion of the magnetic field from the volume (partial Meissner effect). Substances that exhibit the full Meissner effect are called type I superconductors, and partial ones are called type II superconductors. However, it is worth noting that in low magnetic fields all types of superconductors exhibit the full Meissner effect.

Superconductors of the second kind in the volume have circular currents that create a magnetic field, which, however, does not fill the entire volume, but is distributed in it in the form of separate threads of Abrikosov vortices. As for the resistance, it is equal to zero, as in superconductors of the first kind, although the movement of vortices under the action of the current current creates effective resistance in the form of dissipative losses for the movement of the magnetic flux inside the superconductor, which is avoided by introducing defects into the structure of the superconductor - pinning centers, for which vortices "cling".

"Coffin of Mohammed"

"Mahomet's Coffin" - an experiment demonstrating the Meissner effect in superconductors.

origin of name

According to legend, the coffin with the body of the prophet Mohammed hung in space without any support, so this experiment is called the "Coffin of Mohammed."

Statement of experience

Superconductivity exists only at low temperatures (in HTSC ceramics - at temperatures below 150), so the substance is pre-cooled, for example, with liquid nitrogen. Next, the magnet is placed on the surface of a flat superconductor. Even in the fields

The phenomenon was first observed in 1933 by the German physicists Meisner and Oksenfeld. The Meissner effect is based on the phenomenon of complete displacement of the magnetic field from the material during the transition to the superconducting state. The explanation of the effect is related to the strictly zero value of the electrical resistance of superconductors. The penetration of a magnetic field into an ordinary conductor is associated with a change in the magnetic flux, which, in turn, creates an induction EMF and induced currents that prevent a change in the magnetic flux.

The magnetic field penetrates the superconductor to a depth, the displacement of the magnetic field from the superconductor is determined by a constant called the London constant:

Rice. 3.17 Schematic of the Meissner effect.

The figure shows the lines of the magnetic field and their displacement from a superconductor at a temperature below the critical one.

When the temperature passes through the critical value, the magnetic field in the superconductor changes sharply, which leads to the appearance of an EMF pulse in the inductor.

Rice. 3.18 A sensor that implements the Meissner effect.

This phenomenon is used to measure ultraweak magnetic fields, to create cryotrons(switching devices).

Rice. 3.19 Design and designation of the cryotron.

Structurally, the cryotron consists of two superconductors. A coil of niobium is wound around the tantalum conductor, through which the control current flows. With an increase in the control current, the magnetic field strength increases, and tantalum passes from the state of superconductivity to the usual state. In this case, the conductivity of the tantalum conductor changes sharply, and the operating current in the circuit practically disappears. On the basis of cryotrons, for example, controlled valves are created.

Magnet levitates over liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductor

Meissner effect- complete displacement of the magnetic field from the material during the transition to the superconducting state (if the field induction does not exceed the critical value). The phenomenon was first observed in 1933 by the German physicists Meisner and Oksenfeld.

Superconductivity is the property of some materials to have strictly zero electrical resistance when they reach a temperature below a certain value (the electrical resistance does not become close to zero, but disappears completely). There are several dozens of pure elements, alloys and ceramics that pass into the superconducting state. Superconductivity is not only the absence of resistance, it is also a definite response to an external magnetic field. The Meissner effect is that a constant, not too strong, magnetic field is pushed out of a superconducting sample. In the thickness of the superconductor, the magnetic field is weakened to zero, superconductivity and magnetism can be called, as it were, opposite properties.

Kent Hovind in his theory suggests that before the Great Flood, the planet Earth was surrounded by a large layer of water, consisting of ice particles, which were held in orbit above the atmosphere by the Meissner effect.

This water shell served as protection from solar radiation and ensured uniform distribution of heat on the Earth's surface.

Illustrative Experience

A very spectacular experience demonstrating the presence of the Meissner effect is shown in the photograph: a permanent magnet hovers over a superconducting cup. For the first time, such an experiment was carried out by the Soviet physicist V.K. Arkadiev in 1945.

Superconductivity exists only at low temperatures (a high-temperature superconductor, ceramics, exists at temperatures of the order of 150 K), so the substance is pre-cooled, for example, with liquid nitrogen. Next, the magnet is placed on the surface of a flat superconductor. Even in fields of 0.001 T, the magnet shifts upwards by a distance of the order of a centimeter. With an increase in the field up to the critical one, the magnet rises higher and higher.

Explanation

One of the properties of superconductors of the second kind is the expulsion of the magnetic field from the region of the superconducting phase. Starting from the immobile superconductor, the magnet floats itself and continues to soar until external conditions take the superconductor out of the superconducting phase. As a result of this effect, a magnet approaching a superconductor will "see" a magnet of opposite polarity of exactly the same size, which causes levitation.

isotopic effect

London moment

Applications of superconductivity

Comparative characteristics of the most common IR detectors based on non-superconductivity properties (the first four), as well as superconducting detectors (the last three):

Type of detector	Maximum counting rate, s −1	Quantum efficiency, %	, c −1	NEP Tue
InGaAs PFD5W1KSF APS (Fujitsu)
R5509-43 PMT (Hamamatsu)
Si APD SPCM-AQR-16 (EG\&G)
Mepsicron II (Quantar)

			less than 1 10 -3	less than 1 10 -19
			less than 1 10 -3

An important application is found in miniature superconducting ring devices - SQUIDs, whose operation is based on the relationship between changes in magnetic flux and voltage. They are part of supersensitive magnetometers that measure the Earth's magnetic field and are also used in medicine to obtain magnetograms of various organs.

Superconductors are also used in maglevs.

The phenomenon of the dependence of the temperature of the transition to the superconducting state on the magnitude of the magnetic field is used in cryotrons-controlled resistances.

Mysterious quantum phenomena still amaze researchers with their unimaginable behavior. Earlier we talked about, today we will consider another quantum mechanical phenomenon - superconductivity.

What is superconductivity? Superconductivity is a quantum phenomenon of the flow of electric current in a solid body without losses, that is, with strictly zero electrical resistance of the body.

With the introduction of such a concept as “absolute zero” into physics, scientists began to increasingly investigate the properties of substances at low temperatures, when there is practically no movement of molecules. To achieve low temperatures, a process such as "gas liquefaction" is required. During evaporation, such a gas takes away energy from a body that is immersed in this gas, since energy is required to separate molecules from the liquid. Similar processes take place in household refrigerators, where liquefied freon gas will evaporate in the freezer.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, such liquefied gases as oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen were already obtained. For a long time, helium resisted liquefaction, and it was expected that it would help to reach the minimum temperature.

Success in liquefying helium was achieved by the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerling-Onnes in 1908, who worked at the University of Leiden (Netherlands). Liquefied helium made it possible to reach a record low temperature - about 4 K. Having obtained liquid helium, the scientist began to study the properties of various materials at helium temperatures.

Discovery history

One of the issues that interested Kamerling-Onnes was the study of the resistance of metals at ultralow temperatures. It was known that as the temperature increased, the electrical resistance also increased. Therefore, it can be expected that the opposite effect will be observed with decreasing temperature.

Experimenting with mercury in 1911, the scientist brought it to freezing and continued to lower the temperature. Upon reaching 4.2 K, the device stopped fixing the resistance. Onnes replaced the devices in the research facility because he feared they would malfunction, but the devices consistently showed zero resistance, despite the fact that there were still 4 K before absolute zero.

After the discovery of the superconductivity of mercury, a large number of questions arose. Among them: “is superconductivity inherent in other substances besides mercury?” or “resistance drops to zero, or it is so low that the devices that exist cannot measure it.

Onnes proposed an original study with an indirect measurement to what level the resistance drops. The electric current excited in the semiconductor circuit, which was measured by the deflection of the magnetic needle, did not die out for several years. According to the results of this experiment, the calculated electrical resistivity of the superconductor was 10−25 Ω.m. Compared to the electrical resistivity of copper (1.5۰10−8 Ohm.m), this value is 7 orders of magnitude less, which makes it practically zero.

Meissner effect

In addition to superconductivity, superconductors have another distinguishing feature, namely, the Meissner effect. This is the phenomenon of rapid decay of the magnetic field in a superconductor. The superconductor is a diamagnet, that is, macroscopic currents are induced in the superconductor in a magnetic field, which create their own magnetic field, which completely compensates for the external one.

The Meissner effect disappears in strong magnetic fields. Depending on the type of superconductor (more on that later), the superconducting state either disappears completely (type I superconductors) or the superconductor is segmented into normal and superconducting regions (type II). It is this effect that can explain the levitation of a superconductor over a strong magnet, or a magnet over a superconductor.

Theoretical explanation of the superconductivity effect

Phenomenological approach. Although Kamerling-Onnes is the discoverer of superconductivity, the first theory of superconductivity was first proposed in 1935 by German physicists and brothers Fritz and Heinz London. Scientists sought to mathematically record such properties of a superconductor as superconductivity and the Meissner effect, without delving into the microscopic causes of superconductivity, phenomenologically. The derived equations made it possible to explain the Meissner effect in such a way that an external magnetic field could only penetrate a superconductor to a certain depth, which depended on the so-called London penetration depth. To explain superconductivity, it was necessary to assume that the current carriers in a superconductor, as in a metal, are electrons. In this case, zero resistance means that the electron does not experience collisions during its movement. Since this applies to all conduction electrons, there is a current of electrons without resistance.

Obviously, this theory does not explain the very nature of this phenomenon, but only describes it and makes it possible to predict its behavior in a number of cases. A deeper, but also phenomenological theory was proposed in 1950 by Soviet theoretical physicists Lev Landau and Vitaly Gnizburg.

BCS theory. The first qualitative explanation of the phenomenon of superconductivity was proposed in the framework of the so-called BCS theory, built by American physicists John Bardeen, Leon Cooper and John Schrieffer. This theory comes from the assumption that under certain conditions an attraction can arise between electrons. Attraction, which is due to various excitations, primarily vibrations of the crystal lattice, is capable of creating "Cooper pairs" - bound states of two electrons in a crystal. Such a pair can move in a crystal without being scattered either by vibrations of the crystal lattice or by impurities. In substances with a temperature far from zero, there is enough energy to "break" such a pair of electrons, while at low temperatures the system does not have enough energy. As a result, a stream of bound electrons arises - Cooper pairs, which practically do not interact with matter. In 1972, D. Bardeen, L. Cooper and D. Schrieffer received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Later, the Soviet theoretical physicist Nikolai Bogolyubov improved the BCS theory. In his works, the scientist described in detail the conditions under which Cooper pairs (energy close to the Fermi energy, certain spins, etc.) can form as a result of quantum effects. Individually, electrons are particles with a half-integer spin (fermions) that are unable to form and pass into a superfluid state. When there is a Cooper pair of electrons, then it is a quasiparticle with integer spin and is . Under certain conditions, bosons are able to form a Bose-Einstein condensate, that is, a substance whose particles occupy the same state, which leads to the appearance of superfluidity. This superfluidity of electrons explains the effect of superconductivity.

Superconductors in an alternating electric field

In addition to superconductivity and the Meissner effect, superconductors have a number of other properties. It is worth noting the following - zero resistance of superconductors is characteristic only at direct current. An alternating electric field makes the resistance of the superconductor non-zero and it grows with increasing field frequency.

Just as the two-fluid model divides a superfluid material into a region of superfluidity and a region of ordinary matter, so the electron flow is divided into superconducting and ordinary ones. A constant field would accelerate the superconducting electrons to infinity (given their zero resistance), which is impossible, because it vanishes when it enters the superconductor. Since a constant electric field does not act on superconductors, then ordinary electrons are not affected by it (it is simply pushed out), which means that the movement is represented only by superconducting electrons.

In the case of an alternating electric field, the process of electron acceleration occurs, followed by deceleration, which is physically possible. In this case, there is also a current of ordinary electrons, which have the property of resistance. The higher the frequency of such a field, the greater the effects associated with ordinary electrons.

London moment

Another interesting property of a superconductor is the London moment. The essence of the phenomenon lies in the fact that a rotating superconductor creates a magnetic field that is aligned exactly along the axis of rotation of the conductor.

Further investigation of this phenomenon led to the discovery of the gravitational magnetic moment of London. In 2006, researchers Martin Tajmar from ARC Seibersdorf Research, Austria, and Clovis de Matos from the European Space Agency (ESA) discovered that a superconductor that is spinning with acceleration also generates a gravitational field. However, such a gravitational field is weaker than the earth's by about 100 million times.

Classification of superconductors

There are several classifications of superconductors based on the following criteria:

Reaction to a magnetic field. This property divides superconductors into two categories. Superconductors of the first kind have a certain one critical value of the magnetic field, exceeding which they lose their superconductivity. II-nd kind - have two limiting values of the magnetic field. When a magnetic field limited to these values is applied to superconductors in this category, the field partially penetrates inward while maintaining superconductivity.
critical temperature. There are low-temperature and high-temperature superconductors. The former have the property of superconductivity at temperatures below -196 ° C or 77 K. High-temperature superconductors are sufficient temperatures above this. Such a separation takes place, since high-temperature superconductors can be used in practice as coolants.
Material. Here, such varieties are distinguished as: a pure chemical element (like mercury or lead), alloys, ceramics, organic or iron-based.
Theoretical description. As you know, any physical theory has a certain area of application. For this reason, for further application, it makes sense to divide superconductors into theories that are able to describe their nature.

Superconductivity of graphene

Graphene has grown in popularity over the past few years. Recall that graphene is a layer of modified carbon, one atom thick. First of all, this was facilitated by the discovery of carbon nanotubes - a specific heavy-duty material that is created by folding one or more layers of graphene.

In 2018, a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, led by Professor Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, discovered that when rotated at a certain (“magically”) angle, two sheets of graphene are completely devoid of electrical conductivity. When the researchers applied voltage to the material by adding a small number of electrodes to this graphene structure, they found that, at a certain level, the electrons broke out of their original insulating state and flowed without resistance. The most important feature of this phenomenon is that the superconductivity of this graphene structure was obtained at room temperature. And although the explanation of this effect is still in question, its potential in the field of energy supply is quite high.

Applications of superconductors

Superconductors have not yet been widely used, but developments in this area are actively underway. So, thanks to the Meissner effect, maglev trains “hovering” over the road are possible.

On the basis of superconductors, super-powerful turbogenerators are already being created, which can be used in power plants.

The cryotron is another application of superconductivity that can be useful for engineering and electronic devices. This is a device that can switch the state of a superconductor from normal to superconducting in a very short time (from 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻¹¹s). Cryotrons can be used in information systems related to storage and coding. So for the first time they were used as storage devices in computers. Also, cryotrons can help in the field of cryoelectronics, among the tasks of which is to increase the sensitivity of signal receivers and preserve the signal shape as best as possible. Here, low temperatures and the effect of superconductivity contribute to the achievement of the set goals.

Also, due to the absence of resistance in superconductors, cables made of such a substance would deliver electricity without heating losses, which would significantly increase the efficiency of power supply. Today, such cables require cooling with liquid nitrogen, which increases the cost of their operation. However, research in this area is underway, and the first superconductor-based power transmission was put into operation in New York in 2008 by American Superconductor. In 2015, South Korea announced its intention to build several thousand kilometers of superconducting power lines. If we add to this the recent discovery of the superconductivity of graphene at room temperature, then global changes in the field of electricity supply should be expected in the near future.

In addition to these areas of application, superconductivity is used in measurement technology, ranging from photon detectors to the measurement of geodesic precession using superconducting gyroscopes on the Gravity Probe B spacecraft. This measurement confirmed Einstein's prediction of such a precession, for reasons stated in General Relativity. Without delving into the measurement mechanism, it should be noted that data on the geodetic precession of the Earth make it possible to accurately calibrate artificial satellites of the Earth.

Summing up what has been written above, the conclusion suggests itself about the prospects of the effect of superconductivity in many areas, and the great potential of superconductors, primarily in the fields of power supply and electrical engineering. We expect many discoveries in this area in the near future.

The beginning of the 20th century in physics can be called the era of extremely low temperatures. In 1908, the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerling-Onnes first obtained liquid helium, which has a temperature of only 4.2 degrees above absolute zero. And soon he managed to reach a temperature of less than one kelvin! For these achievements, Kamerling-Onnes was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913. But he was not at all chasing records, he was interested in how substances change their properties at such low temperatures - in particular, he studied the change in the electrical resistance of metals. And then on April 8, 1911, something incredible happened: at a temperature just below the boiling point of liquid helium, the electrical resistance of mercury suddenly disappeared. No, it didn't just become very small, it turned out to be zero (as far as it was possible to measure it)! None of the theories that existed at that time predicted anything like this and could not explain it. The following year, a similar property was discovered in tin and lead, the latter conducting current without resistance and at temperatures even slightly above the boiling point of liquid helium. And by the 1950s and 1960s, NbTi and Nb 3 Sn materials were discovered, which are distinguished by the ability to maintain a superconducting state in powerful magnetic fields and when high currents flow. Alas, they still require cooling with expensive liquid helium.

1. Having installed a “flying car” with a filling of a superconductor, with linings of a melamine sponge impregnated with liquid nitrogen and a foil sheath, on a magnetic rail through a gasket of a pair of wooden rulers, pour liquid nitrogen into it, “freezing” the magnetic field into the superconductor.

2. After waiting for the superconductor to cool to a temperature below -180°C, carefully remove the rulers from under it. The “car” hovers stably, even if we positioned it not quite in the center of the rail.

The next great discovery in the field of superconductivity occurred in 1986: Johannes Georg Bednorz and Karl Alexander Müller discovered that copper-barium-lanthanum co-oxide is superconductive at a very high (compared to the boiling point of liquid helium) temperature of 35 K. Already in the next 2009, replacing lanthanum with yttrium, it was possible to achieve superconductivity at a temperature of 93 K. Of course, by household standards, these are still quite low temperatures, -180 ° C, but the main thing is that they are above the threshold of 77 K - the boiling point of cheap liquid nitrogen. In addition to the critical temperature, which is huge by the standards of ordinary superconductors, unusually high values of the critical magnetic field and current density are achievable for YBa2Cu3O7-x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.65) and a number of other cuprates. Such a remarkable combination of parameters not only allowed a much wider use of superconductors in technology, but also made possible many interesting and spectacular experiments that can be done even at home.

We were unable to detect any voltage drop when passing a current of more than 5 A through the superconductor, which indicates zero electrical resistance. Well, at least about the resistance of less than 20 μOhm - the minimum that can be fixed by our device.

Which to choose

First you need to get a suitable superconductor. The discoverers of high-temperature superconductivity baked a mixture of oxides in a special oven, but for simple experiments, we recommend buying ready-made superconductors. They are available in the form of polycrystalline ceramics, textured ceramics, first and second generation superconducting tapes. Polycrystalline ceramics are inexpensive, but their parameters are far from record-breaking: already small magnetic fields and currents can destroy superconductivity. Tapes of the first generation also do not amaze with their parameters. Textured ceramic is a completely different matter, it has the best characteristics. But for recreational experiences, it is inconvenient, fragile, degrades over time, and most importantly, it is quite difficult to find it in the free market. But the tapes of the second generation turned out to be an ideal option for the maximum number of visual experiments. Only four companies in the world can produce this high-tech product, including the Russian SuperOx. And, what is very important, they are ready to sell their tapes, made on the basis of GdBa2Cu3O7-x, in quantities from one meter, which is just enough to conduct demonstrative scientific experiments.

The second-generation superconducting tape has a complex structure of many layers for various purposes. The thickness of some layers is measured in nanometers, so this is real nanotechnology.

Equal to zero

Our first experience is the measurement of the resistance of a superconductor. Is it really zero? It is pointless to measure it with an ordinary ohmmeter: it will show zero even when connected to a copper wire. Such small resistances are measured differently: a large current is passed through the conductor and the voltage drops across it are measured. As a current source, we took an ordinary alkaline battery, which, when short-circuited, gives about 5 A. At room temperature, both a meter of superconducting tape and a meter of copper wire show a resistance of several hundredths of an ohm. We cool the conductors with liquid nitrogen and immediately observe an interesting effect: even before we started the current, the voltmeter already showed about 1 mV. Apparently, this is thermo-EMF, since in our circuit there are many different metals (copper, solder, steel "crocodiles") and temperature drops of hundreds of degrees (subtract this voltage in further measurements).

A thin disk magnet is great for creating a levitating platform over a superconductor. In the case of a snowflake superconductor, it is easily “pressed” in a horizontal position, and in the case of a square superconductor, it should be “frozen in”.

And now we pass the current through the cooled copper: the same wire shows resistance already in only thousandths of an ohm. But what about superconducting tape? We connect the battery, the ammeter needle instantly rushes to the opposite edge of the scale, but the voltmeter does not change its readings even by a tenth of a millivolt. The resistance of the tape in liquid nitrogen is exactly zero.

As a cuvette for a superconducting assembly in the form of a snowflake, the cap from a five-liter bottle of water was excellent. A piece of melamine sponge should be used as a heat-insulating stand under the lid. It is necessary to add nitrogen no more than once every ten minutes.

Aircrafts

Now let's move on to the interaction of a superconductor and a magnetic field. Small fields are generally pushed out of the superconductor, while stronger ones penetrate it not in a continuous stream, but in the form of separate "jets". In addition, if we move a magnet near a superconductor, then currents are induced in the latter, and their field tends to bring the magnet back. All this makes superconducting or, as it is also called, quantum levitation possible: a magnet or superconductor can hang in the air, stably held by a magnetic field. To verify this, a small rare earth magnet and a piece of superconducting tape are sufficient. If you have at least a meter of tape and larger neodymium magnets (we used a 40 x 5 mm disc and a 25 x 25 mm cylinder), then you can make this levitation quite spectacular by lifting an additional weight into the air.

First of all, you need to cut the tape into pieces and fasten them into a bag of sufficient area and thickness. You can also fasten them with superglue, but this is not very reliable, so it is better to solder them with an ordinary low-power soldering iron with ordinary tin-lead solder. Based on the results of our experiments, two package options can be recommended. The first is a square with a side of three tape widths (36 x 36 mm) of eight layers, where in each subsequent layer the tapes are laid perpendicular to the tapes of the previous layer. The second is an eight-ray "snowflake" of 24 pieces of tape 40 mm long, stacked on top of each other so that each next piece is rotated 45 degrees relative to the previous one and crosses it in the middle. The first option is a little easier to manufacture, much more compact and stronger, but the second one provides better magnet stabilization and economical nitrogen consumption due to its absorption into the wide gaps between the sheets.

A superconductor can hang not only above a magnet, but also below it, and indeed in any position relative to the magnet. As well as the magnet does not have to hang exactly above the superconductor.

By the way, stabilization should be mentioned separately. If you freeze a superconductor, and then just bring a magnet to it, then the magnet will not hang - it will fall away from the superconductor. To stabilize the magnet, we need to force the field into the superconductor. This can be done in two ways: "freezing" and "pressing". In the first case, we place a magnet over a warm superconductor on a special support, then pour liquid nitrogen and remove the support. This method works great with the "square", it will also work for single-crystal ceramics, if you can find it. With the "snowflake" method also works, albeit a little worse. The second method assumes that you force the magnet closer to the already cooled superconductor until it captures the field. With a single crystal of ceramics, this method almost does not work: too much effort is needed. But with our "snowflake" it works great, allowing you to stably hang the magnet in different positions (with the "square" too, but the position of the magnet cannot be made arbitrary).

To see quantum levitation, even a small piece of superconducting tape is enough. True, only a small magnet can be kept in the air and at a low altitude.

Free float

And now the magnet is already hanging one and a half centimeters above the superconductor, recalling Clarke's third law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Why not make the picture even more magical by placing a candle on a magnet? Perfect option for a romantic quantum mechanical dinner! True, there are a couple of things to consider. Firstly, candles in a metal sleeve tend to slide to the edge of the magnet disc. To get rid of this problem, you can use a candlestick-stand in the form of a long screw. The second problem is the boiling off of nitrogen. If you try to add it just like that, then the steam coming from the thermos extinguishes the candle, so it is better to use a wide funnel.

An eight-layer package of superconducting tapes can easily hold a very massive magnet at a height of 1 cm or more. Increasing the package thickness will increase the retained mass and flight altitude. But above a few centimeters, the magnet in any case will not rise.

By the way, where exactly to add nitrogen? What container should the superconductor be placed in? Two options turned out to be the easiest: a cuvette made of foil folded into several layers and, in the case of a “snowflake”, a cap from a five-liter bottle of water. In both cases, the container is placed on a piece of melamine sponge. This sponge is sold in supermarkets and is designed for cleaning, it is a good thermal insulator that can withstand cryogenic temperatures perfectly.

In general, liquid nitrogen is quite safe, but you still need to be careful when using it. It is also very important not to close the containers with it hermetically, otherwise the evaporation will increase the pressure in them and they may explode! Liquid nitrogen can be stored and transported in ordinary steel thermoses. In our experience, it lasts at least two days in a two-liter thermos, and even longer in a three-liter thermos. For one day of home experiments, depending on their intensity, it takes from one to three liters of liquid nitrogen. It is inexpensive - about 30-50 rubles per liter.

Finally, we decided to assemble a rail of magnets and launch a “flying car” along it with a superconductor filling, with linings of melanin sponge soaked in liquid nitrogen and a foil shell. There was no problem with the straight rail: by taking the 20 x 10 x 5 mm magnets and laying them on a sheet of iron like bricks in a wall (horizontal wall, since we want the horizontal direction of the magnetic field), it is easy to assemble a rail of any length. It is only necessary to lubricate the ends of the magnets with glue so that they do not move apart, but remain tightly compressed, without gaps. A superconductor slides along such a rail without any friction. It is even more interesting to assemble the rail in the form of a ring. Alas, here one cannot do without gaps between the magnets, and at each gap the superconductor slows down a little ... Nevertheless, a good push is quite enough for a couple of laps. If you wish, you can try to grind the magnets and make a special guide for their installation - then an annular rail without joints is also possible.

The editors express their gratitude to the SuperOx company and personally to its leader Andrei Petrovich Vavilov for the superconductors provided, as well as to the neodim.org online store for the magnets provided.