Meissner Effect: History of Development and Novel Aspects

TL;DR

This paper reviews the history and development of the Meissner effect, introduces a semi-classical model based on Cooper pairing and quantization, and suggests potential revisions to the standard understanding of superconducting states.

Contribution

It proposes a new semi-classical model linking the Meissner effect to electron pairing and quantization, challenging traditional theories and predicting novel effects.

Findings

Preliminary experimental results indicate the need to revise the standard Meissner state picture.

The model unifies zero resistance, induction, and entropy as stemming from electron pairing.

Predicted effects could advance understanding of microscopic superconducting properties.

Abstract

The discovery of the Meissner effect was a turning point in the history of superconductivity. It demonstrated that superconductivity is an equilibrium state of matter, thus allowing to use thermodynamics for its study. This provided a justification for the two-fluid model of Gorter and Casimir, a seminal thermodynamic theory founded on a postulate of zero entropy of the superconducting (S) component of conduction electrons. It also demonstrated that, apart from zero resistivity, the S phase is also characterized by zero magnetic induction, used as a basic postulate in the theory of Londons underlying the understanding of electromagnetic properties of superconductors. Here the experimental and theoretical aspects of the Meissner effect are reviewed. The reader will see that, in spite of almost nine decades age, the London theory still contains questions, the answers to which can lead to a revision of the standard picture of the Meissner state (MS) and other superconducting states. An attempt is made to take a fresh look at electrodynamics of the MS and try resolve the issues associated with this most important state of all superconductors. It is shown that the concept of Cooper pairing along with the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization condition allows one to construct a semi-classical theoretical model consistently addressing properties of the MS and beyond, including non-equilibrium properties of superconductors caused by the total current. As follows from the model, the three "big zeros" of superconductivity (zero resistance, induction and entropy) have equal weight and grow from a single root: quantization of the angular momentum of paired electrons. The model predicts some yet unknown effects. If confirmed, they can help in studies of microscopic properties of all superconductors. Preliminary experimental results suggesting the need to revise the standard picture of the MS are presented.