Hi Jonny Boy,
I like what you are suggesting. I am a big fan of "to re-investigate it from first principles".
I must say, however, that you run the risk of being misunderstood. As you say generations of scientists and their students have been blindly accepting many things in an uncritical manner. So when you pose the question - some - readers will tend to misunderstand what you are driving at. Rather than dig into what you have to say and formulate a meanigful response they will:
a) come up with a reply that shows they missed the point;
b) heap on the ridicule and sarcasm;
c) spew total nonsense.
Rather than these three pointless alternatives I will make an effort. First I am no expert at superconducting, so I have no particular insight into your question. Now your question is this:
"what is the mechanism that forces the superconducting charge carriers to move in circles? "
One of the basics of any problem solving or analytic activity is to ask what the object of study reminds you of.
My first level take on this is to think of charges moving in a magnetic field. This bring to mind the Lorentz force law: Fm = qv X B.
My second level take is to think about Faraday induction. This is where a magnet is thrust through a coil of wire to produce a current. I am also thinking of Lenz' law in this context.
Now I look back at the original question and notice that you said "superconducting charge carriers". Whoa! Shouldn't it be the charge carriers in the superconducting material?
Well, I guess that this is where I have to ask a question or two. The most important is what is the basic principle you wish to call into question? Maybe you could also specify what state that the superconductor is in when the B field is built up. Does it have a current in it already? Would bringing a bar magnet near the material make any difference (as opposed to a solenoid where the field is "made") in what you are asking?
What ever you do, don't take my questions in a negative way. I am only asking you to sharpen the point.
Dr R.
