Decay of an Electric Current in a Superconductor

Abstract

A theory of the decay of an electric current in a superconductor is presented. The calculations have been done using a model within the BCS theory of superconductivity, ignoring magnetic effects. The decay of current, from a specially chosen initial state, is found both for low temperatures and for temperatures near the critical temperature. The persistence of currents remains unexplained. The related problem of thermal conductivity is re-examined in an Appendix.