Ionizing radiation from superconductors in the theory of hole superconductivity

Abstract

We point out that large superconducting bodies described by the theoryof hole superconductivity will emit ionizing radiation in non-equilibriumsituations. This remarkable prediction, involving an energy scale a factor of1012 larger than the low energy scale usually associated with superconductivity, is unique to thetheory of hole superconductivity. The phenomenon is a consequence of the macroscopicinhomogeneous charge distribution predicted to exist in superconducting bodies, and theresulting intrinsic macroscopic spin currents in the superconducting state in the absence ofapplied fields. For superconducting bodies of sufficiently large size, the speed of thespin–current carriers approaches the speed of light, and in addition real electron–positronpair production is expected to occur in the interior. When the superconducting state isdestroyed, electromagnetic radiation with frequencies up to should arise from bremsstrahlung and electron–positron annihilation. In support of thisrather unconventional theory we point out that it is the only existing theory that proposesexplanations for two fundamental universal effects associated with superconductivity: theMeissner effect and the Tao effect.