"Moses Effect" and other results from our 17 T magnet

Figure 1: Moses... or Ted?

In a much-cited work [Exodus 14, 22], is an account of the repulsion of sea water. We have demonstrated the "Moses effect" (See Figure 1 for a possible likeness of Moses, the reputed author of this work) using our superconducting magnet with its central field at 16 Tesla. For this demonstration, we fitted our superconducting magnet with a room-temperature bore, allowing us to observe the effects of the diamagnetism of water and alcohol when a tube containing French wine was inserted into the bore. In Figure 2 you can see the "parting of the red wine", which does not enter the high field region.

Figure 2: The Moses effect as shown by our high field magnet

We have also used our magnet with a low temperature sample stage to observe flux lines in YBa2Cu3O7 at a temperature of 2 Kelvin and a field of 16 Tesla. Figure 3 shows Elizabeth Blackburn inserting the sample at room temperature (but under vacuum) while the cryomagnet remains at 4.2 Kelvin. This is done using a manipulator and airlock designed and manufactured by Gary Walsh in Birmingham Physics workshops. In Figure 4, you see the resulting diffraction pattern. This is not quite square. but distorted in the opposite direction from what we observed earlier on the same sample at fields below 11 T.

Figure 3: Inserting the sample at room temperature

Figure 4: The diffraction pattern

The cryomagnet is shown being filled with liquid helium in Figure 5, along with Alex Holmes, the Research Fellow on this project, and Ken Honniball, a technician at the Institut Laue-Langevin.

Figure 5: The cryomagnet being cooled

For more information about scientific aims of the EPSRC Grant on which this magnet was funded see HERE. A summary of the work on this grant, which has led to a continuing and extended research programme can be found HERE. People wishing to collaborate with us in using this magnet can find detailed specifications HERE and in a Review of Scientific Instruments article.