Meissner Field

The Meissner Field is a magnetic field which, among other things, does not have the traditional north or south polarity. This is the reason many physicists strongly prefer to call it the Meissner Effect -- thus avoiding the issue of having a directionally challenged magnetic field. At the same time, however, the effect can not be dismissed inasmuch as Edmunds Scientific now sells kits with which to demonstrate the Meissner effect. (The general sense is that when capitalism agrees on the reality of a physical phenomena, physicists quickly accept the inevitable.)

The Meissner Field (or Effect) is produced when a superconductor has an external magnetic field applied to it -- with the strength of the Meissner field/effect being dependent upon the initially applied external magnetic field. Once the Meissner effect has been initiated, it acts as a magnetic barrier and resists any further entry of an applied magnetic field into the superconductor. The effect is dramatic. Once established the Meissner field forces all other magnetic fields to effectively go around the superconductor, leaving the superconducting sample unaffected in terms of its superconductive characteristics.