diamagnetically stabilized magnet levitation - netti.nic.fi.pdf

Diamagnetically stabilized magnet levitation M. D. Simon, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles L. O. Heflinger, Torrance CA, and A. K. Geim, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, UK contact msimon@ Manuscript number 12096, March. 29, 2001 Abstract Stable levitation of one magnet by another with no energy input is usually prohibited by Earnshaw’s Theorem. However, the intro- duction of diamagnetic material at special locations can stabilize such levitation. A magnet can even be stably suspended between (diamag- netic) fingertips. A very simple, surprisingly stable room temperature magnet levitation device is described that works without supercon- ductors and requires absolutely no energy input. Our theory derives the magnetic field conditions necessary for stable levitation in these cases and predicts experimental measurements of the forces remark- ably well. New levitation configurations are described which can be stabilized with hollow cylinders of diamagnetic material. Measure- ments are presented of the diamagnetic properties of several samples of bismuth and graphite. 1 Diamagnetic materials Most substances are weakly diamagnetic and the tiny forces associated with this property make two types of levitation possible. Diamagnetic materi- als, including water, protein, carbon, DNA, plastic, wood, and many other common materials, develop persistent atomic or molecular currents which 1 oppose externally applied magnetic fields. Bismuth and graphite are the ele- ments with the strongest diamagnetism, about 20 times grea