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Belief in thermodynamics has provoked false thermodynamics of superconductors

The paper argues that the conventional theory of superconductivity contains fundamental thermodynamic errors, specifically claiming that it violates the second law of thermodynamics and the law of conservation of energy due to a widespread but mistaken belief in the standard interpretation of free energy and the Meissner effect.

Original authors: A. V. Nikulov

Published 2026-06-10

📖 6 min read🧠 Deep dive

CC BY 4.0

Original authors: A. V. Nikulov

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

The Big Idea: A "Faith" That Blinded Scientists

Imagine a group of master builders (physicists) who have been following a specific rulebook (Thermodynamics) for a hundred years. This rulebook says: "You cannot get something for nothing. You can't build a machine that runs forever without fuel."

The author, A.V. Nikulov, argues that these builders have become so obsessed with following this rulebook that they have started ignoring the actual blueprints of the building they are working on (Superconductivity). Because they are so afraid of breaking the "No Perpetual Motion" rule, they have convinced themselves that the building works in a way that actually violates the laws of physics, just to keep the rulebook happy.

Nikulov claims that for 90 years, experts have been blind to a massive contradiction: Superconductors seem to be doing exactly what the rulebook says is impossible.

The Main Characters and the Plot

1. The "Magic" of Superconductors

Superconductors are special materials that, when cooled down, let electricity flow with zero resistance. They also have a "superpower" called the Meissner Effect: if you put a magnet near them, the material pushes the magnetic field out completely, causing the magnet to float (levitate).

Think of this like a magnetic trampoline. When you step on it, it pushes you up.

2. The "Perpetual Motion" Problem

Here is the problem Nikulov sees:

The Setup: You have a magnet floating above a superconductor. It has "potential energy" (like a ball held high in the air).
The Cycle:
1. The superconductor is cold, the magnet floats high.
2. You warm up the superconductor. It stops being super, and the magnet falls down.
3. When the magnet falls, it hits the ground and turns its energy into heat (sound, vibration, warmth). This is normal.
4. Now, you cool the superconductor back down. The magnet jumps back up!

The Contradiction: Where did the energy come from to lift the magnet back up?

If the magnet fell and turned its energy into heat, that heat is gone.
To lift the magnet back up, you need new energy.
But the superconductor just "turned on" again. It didn't burn fuel. It didn't use a battery. It just used the cold temperature.
Nikulov's Point: This looks like a Perpetual Motion Machine. You are getting free energy (lifting the magnet) just by cooling something down, without paying a cost. This violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which says you can't get energy out of thin air.

3. The "False Math" (The Gorter Cycle)

To fix this problem, scientists in the 1930s (Gorter and Casimir) tried to do the math. They created a theoretical loop (a cycle) to prove that no energy was being created or destroyed.

Nikulov says their math was fake.

The Analogy: Imagine you are trying to balance a checkbook. You know you spent \ $100, but you need the balance to be zero to prove you didn't steal money. So, you secretly erase the \$ 100 expense and pretend it never happened.
What they did: They assumed that when the superconductor switches states, the "Free Energy" (a measure of usable energy) stays exactly the same.
The Reality: Nikulov argues that the math shows energy must change. The "surplus work" done by the magnetic field is real. By pretending this work doesn't exist or by fudging the numbers, they created a "False Thermodynamics" that looks good on paper but breaks the laws of physics in the real world.

4. The "Hole" in the Theory

The paper also attacks a famous theory called BCS Theory (the standard explanation for how superconductors work).

The Issue: The BCS theory says that when a superconductor turns back into a normal metal, the "super-currents" (the electricity flowing forever) disappear and turn into heat.
The Paradox: But experiments show that these currents can come back instantly when you cool the material down again, even if there was resistance (friction) in between.
The Analogy: Imagine a car driving down a hill. It hits a patch of mud (resistance) and stops. The engine turns off. Then, you push the car back up the hill, and suddenly, the engine turns back on and the car drives perfectly again, as if the mud never happened.
Nikulov says this is impossible. If the energy was lost to heat (the mud), it can't just magically reappear. The fact that it does reappear suggests the standard theory is wrong.

The "Emperor's New Clothes"

Nikulov compares the scientific community to the characters in the fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes.

The "Emperor" is the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The "Clothes" are the False Thermodynamics of Superconductors.
Everyone is so afraid of saying "The Emperor has no clothes" (i.e., "The Second Law might be wrong") that they pretend to see the clothes. They ignore the obvious contradictions because they are "faithful" to the old rules.

The Conclusion: What the Author Wants

Nikulov isn't trying to sell a new battery or a new engine. He is making a philosophical and scientific point:

Faith vs. Science: Science should be about observing what actually happens, not about forcing reality to fit a 100-year-old belief.
The Blind Spot: Experts have forgotten basic rules (like "heat is irreversible") because they are too focused on protecting the idea that "Perpetual Motion is impossible."
The Challenge: He suggests that if we look closely at the "Gorter Cycle" (the theoretical loop), we can actually see that superconductors are acting like perpetual motion machines. They are converting heat into work in a way that shouldn't be possible.

In short: The paper claims that the scientific community has been lying to itself for 90 years. They have built a "fake" version of thermodynamics for superconductors just to avoid admitting that these materials might be breaking the most fundamental laws of physics. Nikulov wants us to stop believing in the "magic" and start looking at the "messy reality" of the experiments.

Technical Summary: "Belief in thermodynamics has provoked false thermodynamics of superconductors"

Problem Statement
The paper argues that the conventional understanding of superconductivity thermodynamics, particularly regarding the Meissner effect and phase transitions, is fundamentally flawed. The author posits that a "blind faith" in the absolute validity of the second law of thermodynamics (specifically the impossibility of perpetual motion) has forced the physics community to ignore contradictions between established superconductivity theories (such as BCS and Ginzburg-Landau) and fundamental thermodynamic laws. The central problem identified is that the standard derivation of the equality of free energies at the critical magnetic field ( $H_c$ ) and the assumption of a reversible first-order phase transition contradict the second law of thermodynamics and the law of conservation of energy.

Methodology and Theoretical Framework
The author employs a critical review of historical and contemporary literature, focusing on:

Thermodynamic Cycles: A detailed analysis of the "Gorter cycle" (a closed thermodynamic cycle involving cooling, applying a magnetic field, heating, and switching off the field) to calculate work and heat exchanges.
Energy Balance Analysis: Examining the work done by solenoid power sources to create magnetic fields in normal versus superconducting states, distinguishing between the energy of the magnetic field ( $E_m$ ) and the work of magnetization.
Comparison of Theories: Contrasting the "false" thermodynamics found in most textbooks (attributed to Gorter and Casimir) with the "correct" derivations by V.L. Ginzburg and P.G. de Gennes, and analyzing the arguments presented by J. Hirsch regarding hole superconductivity.
Quantum Phenomena: Integrating observations of macroscopic quantum phenomena, such as magnetic flux quantization and persistent currents in rings with non-zero resistance, to challenge the correspondence principle and the assumption of molecular disorder required for the second law.

Key Contributions and Arguments

The Contradiction of the Meissner Effect: The paper asserts that the Meissner effect (expulsion of magnetic fields) violates the second law of thermodynamics. In a closed Gorter cycle, the negative surplus work performed by the power source during the transition to the superconducting state implies a decrease in entropy or the creation of useful work from heat without a temperature gradient, effectively functioning as a perpetual motion machine of the second kind.
Critique of the Gorter-Casimir Model: The author argues that C.J. Gorter and H. Casimir (1934) derived the "basic equation" of superconductor thermodynamics ( $F_n - F_s = \mu_0 H_c^2 / 2$ ) by making a false claim: that the work done by a current source creates the energy of magnetization ($-HdM$) rather than the energy of the magnetic field ($HdB$). This error allowed them to equate free energies at $H_c$ while violating the second law.
Flaws in Standard Textbooks: Most textbooks (e.g., Shoenberg, Tinkham, Abrikosov) propagate this error by assuming that free energy remains unchanged in the normal state under a magnetic field or by arbitrarily defining Gibbs free energy to force the equality of phases at the transition. The author contends that these definitions are arbitrary and violate the law of conservation of energy.
The Keesom Task and Irreversibility: The paper highlights that the conventional BCS theory fails to solve the "Keesom task": explaining how persistent currents can be annihilated before the material gains resistance (to avoid Joule heat generation) during the transition to the normal state. The author notes that experimental evidence of persistent currents in rings with non-zero resistance ( $R > 0$ ) refutes the idea that these currents are annihilated prior to resistance, thereby confirming the violation of the second law.
Critique of J. Hirsch: While acknowledging J. Hirsch's identification of contradictions in the BCS theory, the author argues that Hirsch's alternative "hole superconductivity" theory also fails to resolve the thermodynamic contradictions. Hirsch is criticized for repeating the Gorter-Casimir mistake regarding the work done in the Gorter cycle and for falsely analogizing the cycle to a Carnot engine.

Results and Observations

Thermodynamic Inconsistency: The analysis demonstrates that the equality of free energies ( $F_s = F_n$ ) at the critical field $H_c$ cannot be derived without contradicting the second law of thermodynamics. If the transition is reversible (as assumed for a first-order phase transition), the work done by the power source must result in a net decrease in entropy or a violation of energy conservation.
Persistent Currents as DC Power Sources: The paper cites experimental observations of persistent currents ( $I_p \neq 0$ ) in rings with non-zero resistance ( $R > 0$ ) and the resulting DC voltage/power ( $W = V_{dc}I_p$ ) in asymmetric rings. These phenomena are presented as experimental evidence of a DC power source operating at thermodynamic equilibrium, which contradicts the second law.
Regression in Understanding: The author concludes that the superconductivity community has regressed in its understanding of thermodynamics, forgetting that the dissipation of kinetic energy into Joule heat is an irreversible process. This "regression" is attributed to the dogmatic belief in the impossibility of perpetual motion.

Significance and Claims
The paper claims that the "false thermodynamics of superconductors" is a direct consequence of centuries-old faith in the impossibility of perpetual motion machines, rather than rigorous scientific understanding. The author asserts that:

The Meissner effect and the existence of macroscopic persistent currents in resistive rings constitute experimental violations of the second law of thermodynamics.
The conventional theories (BCS, Ginzburg-Landau) and their thermodynamic interpretations are fundamentally inconsistent with the laws of conservation of energy and entropy.
The scientific community has ignored these contradictions for nearly a century due to "blind faith," leading to a situation where experts accept theories that contradict basic physical laws.
The author calls for a re-evaluation of the second law, suggesting that the assumption of molecular disorder (necessary for the law's validity) is violated in macroscopic quantum systems. The paper concludes that the energy of a battery could theoretically be increased by the negative surplus work in a Gorter cycle, a phenomenon the author suggests can be experimentally corroborated.

The paper does not propose a new theory of superconductivity but rather demands that the existing contradictions be acknowledged and that the "false thermodynamics" currently taught in the field be discarded in favor of a framework that accepts these apparent violations of the second law.