Superconducting Quantum Levitation on a 3π Möbius Strip

A simple loop has two sides. You can't get from the red side to the green side without crossing the edge. If you cut the loop, twist one end by 180 degrees, or π radians, and connect them again, you will have a Möbius strip: a mathematically non-orientable surface with only one boundary. Now, you can travel along the red side to the green without going over the edge. If you twist the end again for a total of 360 degrees, or 2π radians, you will have a twisted loop. You again can't get from the red side to the green side. If you twist the end a third time for a total of 540 degrees, or 3π radians, you will again have a Möbius strip. Our demonstration is a 3π Möbius strip track. By the time the superconductor has gone around the loop once, it has rotated 540 degrees about its own axis. This animation shows you how to twist a loop 540 degrees to get a 3π Möbius strip track.

Channel: Ithaca College Physics

Views: 7,806,329

Keywords: Superconductor, Quantum Levitation, Möbius, Mobius strip, Ithaca College, Ithaca College Physics, MagLev, Magnetic Levitation, Flux pinning, YBCO, Quantum Locking

Id: Vxror-fnOL4

Length: 2min 49sec (169 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 22 2016