Meissner effect

American  

[mahys-ner] / ˈmaɪs nər /

noun

Physics.

1. the loss of magnetism that a superconductor displays when cooled to its transition temperature in a magnetic field.

---

Meissner effect British  

/ ˈmaɪsnə /

noun

1. physics the phenomenon in which magnetic flux is excluded from a substance when it is in a superconducting state, except for a thin layer at the surface

---

Etymology

Origin of Meissner effect

After German physicist Fritz Walther Meissner (1882–1974), who contributed to a description of the effect in 1933

Example Sentences

This so-called critical current behavior and the Meissner effect are the two key features of superconductors.

From Science Daily • Nov. 13, 2023

This measurement is important because it indicates one sign of a superconductor: the ability to expel a magnetic field, a phenomenon called the Meissner effect.

From Scientific American • Mar. 10, 2023

B.C.S., he says, is in many ways, “a lie,” unable to explain the Meissner effect.

From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2023

The result: the first ever evidence of the Meissner effect in hydrides, which the team calls “unambiguous evidence” that superconductivity in hydrides is real.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 21, 2021

For one thing, the IBM scientists had lacked the sensitive equipment to test for the Meissner effect, the surest proof of superconductivity, and thus could not confirm it in their report.

From Time Magazine Archive