Does the Meissner effect violate the second law of thermodynamics?
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In Entropy 24, 83 (2022) [1], titled ``The Law of Entropy Increase and the Meissner Effect'', its author Alexey Nikulov argues that the Meissner effect exhibited by type I superconductors violates the second law of thermodynamics. Contrary to this claim, I show that the Meissner effect is consistent with the second law of thermodynamics provided that a mechanism exists for the supercurrent to start and stop without generation of Joule heat. The theory of hole superconductivity provides such a mechanism, the conventional theory of superconductivity does not. It requires the existence of hole carriers in the normal state of the system.
Source: Physica C Superconductivity
Author: J.E. Hirsch
Institution: University of California San Diego
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,450
OpenAlex ID: W4404653432