Quantized Magnetic Flux and the Magneto-halon Effect in a Critical Superconductor

Abstract: Employing the standard worldline-vortex mapping, we conclude that at the critical temperature, superconductors demonstrate the magneto-halon effect with respect to the quantized net magnetic flux generated by a solenoid inserted into the system. The effect is a direct counterpart of the recently revealed halon effect in terms of the quantized particle charge of a static impurity in the two-dimensional U(1) quantum-critical environment. The flux-loop model (a.k.a. frozen lattice superconductor) with a quasi-solenoid perturbation proves to be the model of choice for qualitative and quantitative description of both the halon and the magneto-halon effects.