On the dynamics of the Meissner and the Becker-London effects

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the most fundamental property of a superconductor is that it exhibits the Meissner effect. Of similar importance is the Becker-London effect, i.e. generation of magnetic field inside a rotating superconductor. Hirsch has recently pointed out that, within the conventional theory of superconductivity, the question about how these effects are generated dynamically has not even been asked yet. Here we fill in this gap in the literature by a detailed study of the evolution of the electromagnetic field for both of these effects. To this end, we solve the Maxwell equations supplemented by the simplest conventional constitutive equation for a superconductor, namely the London equation. We demonstrate that, contrary to the expectations of Hirsch, the conventional theory does correctly describe the dynamics of both, the Meissner and the Becker-London effect. We find that the dynamics of the studied processes is quite rich and interesting even at this level of description.