Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/6/c/solution
Past exam of the condensed matter physics major option course of the University of Oxford 2019 6 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Rearrange the source's condensate-current expression and integrate around a closed path lying in the superconducting material:Single-valuedness of the superconducting wavefunction requires , and Stokes theorem gives . Thus the exact result is fluxoid and flux quantization in a superconductor:Reversing the winding orientation absorbs the sign of . Since a Cooper pair has , the positive superconducting flux quantum isFor a thick ring, choose the path deep enough that the supercurrent is negligible; then the enclosed magnetic flux is . This is the flux quantization usually intended in the question.
Qualification of the unqualified flux claim: a thin ring can have a nonzero kinetic contribution around every available path, so it is the fluxoid that is exactly quantized. For example, with zero applied flux and geometric and kinetic inductances , a metastable winding- state has but . This concrete counterexample satisfies the given current law while its magnetic flux is not an integer multiple of .
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