BS815: Inside Superconductivity: the Vortex Electron or ElectroGyre Model
David Noel
<davidn@aoi.com.au>
Ben Franklin Centre for Theoretical Research
PO Box 27, Subiaco, WA 6008, Australia.
Conduction of Electricity
Electricity is one of the most important bases of modern society. While static electricity has been known since 600 BC, and shocks from fish were noted in 2750 BC, the understanding of active current flow developed only as scientists began studying electric circuits in the 1800s.
In 1800 Alessandro Volta invented the battery, allowing for a continuous, steady flow of electricity. Materials which conduct electricity well are known as Conductors. The flow of electricity through a conductor is specified by Ohm's Law, which defines the fundamental relationship between Voltage (strength of electricity source), and Current (electricity flow) -- current is directly proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to a property of the conductor called Resistance.
It is customary and convenient to treat electricity as the flow of tiny "charged" particles called electrons, where "charge" defines which way current flows when a battery is connected to a conductor. The term "Charge" is an essentially undefined two-value property in electricity, with the electron assigned the value "Negative". Electrons also figure in most models of the structure of atoms, with a negatively-charged "electron cloud" associated with a central nucleus of positively-charged particles called protons and neutrons.
Electrical Resistance is a normal property of Conductors -- materials which conduct electricity may do so readily (low resistance) or poorly (high resistance). But in 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered a case of a material which exhibited Zero Resistance [8]. When he fed electricity into a circuit of Mercury metal held at an extremely low temperature (4.2 K, only a few degrees above the minimum possible temperature of Absolute Zero), he observed that the material showed Zero Resistance, with the current continuing to flow even after its original source was removed.
Superconductivity
This phenomenon of zero resistance to current flow, observed in some materials at low temperatures, is called Superconductivity. It finds practical application in various devices involving strong magnetic fields, such as the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) equipment used in hospitals to scan live human organs.
In MRI, a very strong magnetic field is created using a superconductor as the current carrier in a large electromagnetic coil cooled with liquid helium. Once charged up with an electric current, say at the beginning of a day, the coil maintains the strong magnetic field even when the power source is removed, although actual MRI machines continue to draw power to run their refrigerating systems.
According to Wikipedia [8], "Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors -- materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases gradually as its temperature is lowered, even down to near absolute zero, a Superconductor has a characteristic Critical Temperature, below which the resistance drops abruptly to zero. An electric current through a loop of superconducting wire can persist indefinitely with no power source".
Figure BS815-F1. An MRI machine. From [9].
In MRI machines the primary, powerful, stationary magnet coils are made from a niobium-titanium alloy embedded in copper. These wires are kept at superconducting temperatures using liquid helium, allowing them to carry immense currents without resistance to create a constant magnetic field. They operate at 4 K -- four degrees above Absolute Zero..
Higher-temperature Superconductors
Following the 1911 discovery of superconduction, a large number of other materials were tested for this property. Their resistance was checked as they were cooled to low temperatures, and if resistance abruptly vanished at a particular temperature, this was called their Critical Temperature.
Of particular interest were materials with Critical Temperatures well above Absolute Zero, particular ones with CTs above 63--77 K, the range in which Nitrogen is a liquid. This is because liquid nitrogen is readily available commercially and fairly cheaply (your doctor may have some to burn bits off your skin), while liquid helium is more difficult to arrange,
Figure BS815-F2. Progress in finding higher-temperature superconductors. From [10].
Figure F2 is a graph illustrating the maximum superconducting temperature (Tc) of various materials over their respective years of discovery, up to the year 2020. The graph highlights a significant jump in Tc values around the mid-1980s, particularly with the discovery of high-temperature cuprate superconductors.
The ideal would be a material which was superconducting at room temperature (nominally 20 deg C or 293 K). While theoretically possible, such a material is unlikely to be obtainable, for reasons which will be discussed below.
What makes a material Superconducting?
There is some theoretical treatment of what makes substances superconducting, but it is somewhat esoteric and non-intuitive.
According to Wikipedia [8], "The complete microscopic theory of superconductivity was finally proposed in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer. This BCS theory explained the superconducting current as a superfluid of Cooper pairs, pairs of electrons interacting through the exchange of phonons".
What the BCS theory says is that in a superconductor, electrons form into pairs, which somehow allow the free movement of electric charge though a solid. The reference to phonons implies electron interaction with the crystal lattice. While BCS does not yield a satisfying physical picture of what is going on, here we aim to produce such a picture, the "ElectroGyre Model".
What is the ElectroGyre Model?
It is generally accepted that a solid consists of an arrangement of atoms, many with positive charge, sitting in a sea of electrons. The atoms of different elements have different degrees of reluctance to release their outer electrons into this sea. Metals mostly give up electrons rather freely, and so are good conductors, while non-metals tend to show the opposite behaviour.
Superconductivity is tied up with crystal structure, that is, with the method of arrangement of atoms within a material. Most materials which show superconductivity have variations on cubic, hexagonal, or layered structures, where atoms are regularly arranged in various directions. See [4] for an explanation of Cubic structures.
One group of materials with high-temperature superconductivity are the Cuprates. Figure F3 is a diagram of the arrangements of atoms within a cuprate. In some directions these atoms are strongly layered.
Figure BS815-F3. Layer structures in Cuprates. From [2].
Magnesium diboride
As a typical low-temperature superconductor, let us look in more detail at Magnesium Diboride (MgB2). This contains stacked layers of magnesium and boron atoms, and when cooled becomes superconducting at 39 K, 39 degrees above Absolute Zero.
Figure BS815-F4. Layer structures in Magnesium Diboride. From [5].
Figure F4 shows the strongly layered nature of MgB2. Figure F5 is another
view of MgB2's crystal structure, showing the arrangement of atoms within layers.
Figure BS815-F5. Magnesium Diboride. From [11].
While figures F4 and F5 give the impression of atoms widely separated, this is due only to the choice of depicting atom sizes. Figure F6 shows a representation where the atoms fill most of the space. Notice that because the atoms are considered as spheres, only in contact with other atoms at a few points, there are still clear paths through the structure.
Figure BS815-F6. Magnesium Diboride. From [6].
There is a conventional discussion of MgB2 superconductivity in [13]. Here we will go on to look at a new and very obvious explanation of how superconduction works -- and conduction also.
The Separation of Layers of Atoms
In the ElectroGyre Model of Conduction, electric currents are enabled by interchange of momentum among ElectroGyres -- rapidly rotating electrons in contact within the spaces between atoms in a material's crystal structure.
Figure BS815-F7. Representation of an atom as a spindle vortex. From [1].
The term "ElectroGyre" here refers to a model representation of an electron in a crystal structure. The model may not be appropriate for electrons elsewhere, as for instance in an electron beam.
The ElectroGyre is much smaller than any atom. While most element atoms are about 2-3 A in diameter (where A is one Angstrom, one ten-billionth or 10-10 of a metre), an ElectroGyre may be less than one-tenth of an Angstrom across.
Figure BS815-F8. Representation of an ElectroGyre (spinning electron) in a crystal structure.
This is a new model of the Electron, with a number of enhancements on previous concepts. These include the following.
1. The electron is spinning.
2, The electron has an axis of rotation, with a north and a south pole.
3. The electron has a definite diameter, which here will be called "D". Its value remains to be measured, but may be about one-tenth of an Angstrom.
The coloured caps and the barber-pole pattern are not meant to represent real entities, only to make the animation clearer. We can mark this point with a Proposition.
Proposition BS815-P1.
How charge moves in a conductor
We are now in a position to give a graphic representation of how charge moves in a conductor.
Figure BS815-F9. A row of touching ElectroGyres.
Figure F9 shows a row of spinning ElectroGyres which are in touching contact at their equators. Because they alternate in orientation of their axes, their direction of motion at their contact points is the same, meaning that angular momentum can be easily transferred.
This, then, is how current moves through a conductor. Coming in at one end, a higher voltage means that the spin of the end ElectroGyre is increased, and it immediately passes on the increase in spin to the second electrogyre, and so on.
Proposition BS815-P2.
In a way, this is like when force is applied to the end cog in a row of intermeshed cogs, as in Figure F10.
Figure BS815-F10. A row of intermeshed cogs. By NanoBanana.
If a turning force is exerted on the leftmost cog, it immediately transmits this force to its neighbour, and so on along the line.
What makes a Superconductor
The ElectroGyre Model shows how electric current can be freely propagated through a solid. The basic requirement is that the solid contains lots of Free Paths, lots of ways in which contained electrogyres can rotate in contact and pass on angular momentum.
Another way of stating this would be to say that the solid has ample spaces between its atoms to allow tubular wormholes of diameter "D" to be drilled throughout in all directions. These wormholes are actually filled with free-spinning electrogyres in contact. Here then is the explanation of Superconductivity.
Proposition BS815-P3.
Electrical Resistance -- What changes a Superconductor to a Conductor
In the ElectroGyre Model, normal (not superconducting) electrical flow takes place by the same mechanism of momentum transfer between electrogyres in contact, but under conditions where Free Spaces of diameter "D' are restricted.
In Figure F9, the row of electrogyres is shown with all in a horizontal row. In a real solid, especially one lacking the ample open layers of a superconductor like that in Figure F4, the spaces between atoms might allow electrogyres to be in contact only at at an angle, limiting momentum transfer. This could be one cause for electrical Resistance to appear.
But the biggest reason for losing superconductivity is Heat -- the Temperature of atoms in the crystal structure. As energy is supplied to a solid, it "heats up" -- this means that the vibration of atoms within the structure increases. Vibration of atoms will reduce their effective separation, from one instant to another, down to "D" and beyond, which will restrict transfer of momentum between electrogyres.
If an electrogyre can be thought of as made of foam rubber, then if it is rotating in a tight space, perhaps rubbing slightly against an adjacent atom, this rubbing or deformation will act to slow it down -- and this is expressed as electrical resistance. The warmer a conductor becomes, the bigger extents will its atoms vibrate, and the more drag is exerted on electrogyre rotation.
Because extra heat means more vibration of the crystal lattice, resulting in more blockage to Free-Path movement of electrogyres, heat increases the resistance of a conductor, and makes a room-temperature superconductor very difficult to achieve.
Speed of Movement of Electric Current
According to Google, electricity travels through a conductor or superconductor at speeds approaching the speed of light (C), typically around 90% to 99% of C (approx. 270,000 -- 300,000 km/s). This speed refers to the electromagnetic signal propagating through the wire, not the translational movement of individual electrons. which is much slower.
In the ElectroGyre model. energy transfer is taking place through the passing of angular momentum between electrogyres in contact, and so can be very rapid. Early experimenters measuring the speed a current signal travelled along wire found it to be essentially instantaneous,
Another instance where transfer of momentum appears instantaneous is in the device known as Newton's Cradle (Figure F11), invented in 1967 by English actor Simon Prebble.
Figure BS815-F11. Newton's Cradle. From [7]..
Similar effects are involved in oil hydraulic systems used in vehicles. Pressure applied at one point in the system shows up immediately at other points -- the signal actually travels at the speed of sound in the oil. Mathematical treatments from hydraulics may be applicable in electric current movements.
Insulators (such as rubber, plastic, or glass), which do not transmit electricity at all, all lack regular crystal structures which could contain connected paths of electrogyre strings.
Energy in MRI machine circulating currents
The circulating electric currents in an MRI machine coils represent quite a lot of energy -- one source put it at around 4 kWh, or the impact energy of a vehicle travelling at 90 km/h.
Where is this energy held? In the ElectroGyre Model, it is stored in the rotational energy of the electrogyres.
Rotational energy, stored in vortexes, is a topic not widely explained. For my treatment, see BS806: Mass Gravity and Spin Gravity: Adjusting the Universe [Reference [B] or [17]. Enormous amounts of energy can be stored in vortexes of every sort, in the present case, in the electrogyre or vortex electron.
There are possibilities for an able mathematician to develop some theory here. The mass of an electron is well known. If it is a spinning object, made up of a material (?vortexium?), its rotational energy can be calculated, though the distribution of the vortexium would have to be assumed (eg uniform in a sphere, all at equatorial ring).
A Note on Electron Spin
The model presented here is of a spinning electron. Very unfortunately, the Spin of an Electron is a term already used in Quantum Theory for a very different quantity, one with no special reference to anything rotating,
We live in a Universe which is Chiral, that is, it shows handed-ness. We can assign the Universe to be Right-Handed. The direction then in which electrogyres spin is always right-handed -- viewed from the North Pole of an electron, it is turning anti-clockwise.
Another sort of Universe is theoretically possible, which is Left-Handed. In this, atoms are made up of anti-protons and anti-neutrons, surrounded by anti-electrons (commonly called positrons). Positrons are formed in some nuclear transmutation processes, and are used in a medical scans (PET Scans, Positron Emission Tomography). If a particle encounters its anti-particle, both annihilate with the release of energy.
In BS802: GEMMA: The Spindle Vortex Model [A] or [1], most of the Universe, including electrogyres, is assumed right-handed and rotating with same direction of spin. If an electrogyre was rotating in the opposite direction, it would be an anti-electron or positron, liable to annihilate if it contacted a normal electron. Here, direction of rotation is quite a different quantity to the "Electron Spin" of Quantum Physics.
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(Electrogyre animations by Andras Kovacs, bandibacsi2@gmail.com)
[1]. David Noel. BS802: GEMMA: The Spindle Vortex Model for Gravity, Energy, Matter, Magnetism, Antimatter. www.aoi.com.au/BaseScience/BS802/ .
[2]. Evgeny M Kopni. Layered Cuprates Containing Flat Fragments: High-Pressure Synthesis, Crystal Structures and Superconducting Properties. https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/7/1862 .
[3]. Oluchi V Nkwachukwu et al. Perovskite Oxide-Based Materials for Photocatalytic and Photoelectrocatalytic Treatment of Water. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.634630/full .
[4]. Structure of Cubic. https://www.rcet.org.in/uploads/academics/rohini_29882018135.pdf .
[5]. Magnesium diboride. https://km.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium-diboride-3D-balls.png
[6]. Magnesium diboride. https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium-diboride-3D-vdW.png
[7]. Swinging Ball Pendulum. https://tenor.com/search/swinging-ball-pendulum-gifs .
[8]. Superconductivity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity .
[9]. The Advantages of Open MRI Scanners in the UK. https://umehealth.co.uk/advantages-open-mri/ .
[10]. Progress in increasing critical temperature of superconducting materials. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-sketch-of-the-progress-in-increasing-critical-temperature-of-superconducting-materials_fig12_329705412.
[11]. Crystal structure of the MgB2 monolayer. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Crystal-structure-of-the-MgB2-monolayer-a-and-bulk-MgB2-b-with-a-hexagonal-unit_fig1_374764510 .
[12]. Google AI. Lattice & Superconductivity. www.aoi.com.au/BS815/Lattice & Superconductivity.pdf .
[13]. Paul Preuss. A Most Unusual Superconductor and How It Works. https://www2.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/MSD-superconductor-Cohen-Louie.html .
[14]. David Noel. BS806: Mass Gravity and Spin Gravity: Adjusting the Universe. www.aoi.com.au/BaseScience/BS806/ .
