Meissner Effect in a Classical Electron Gas

Abstract

M. v. LAUE¹ pointed out that thermodynamics can be applied to a superconductor only because it has, by displaying a Meissner effect, a unique state in a magnetic field. The classical electrodynamics of a perfect conductor, however, yields an ambiguous state¹, but only if acceleration effects are neglected. Classical statistics of a free-electron gas give a unique state of zero current (theorem of van Leeuwen²) independent of the external magnetic field. It has never been shown, however, how a magnetic field can enter the electron gas without the assumption of surface friction³.