On the Author Correction to "Magnetic flux trapping in hydrogen-rich high-temperature superconductors", Nat Phys. 19, 1293 (2023), arXiv:2206.14108

In Fig. 4c, under the section titled “Pinning and thermally activated motion of vortices” in arXiv:2206.14108 and Nat Phys. 19, 1293 (2023) [1], Minkov and co-workers presented the time dependence of the magnetic moment of sulfur hydride (H${}_3$S) under high pressure and argued that they had observed magnetic flux creep at 165 K, 180 K and 185 K. Flux creep is a phenomenon observed under the assumption that the material under study can trap magnetic flux, and thus, Fig. 4c serves as evidence that H${}_3$S traps magnetic flux and is a high-temperature superconductor. The claim remains unchanged even in the recently published Author Correction [2] to Ref. [1]. However, Ref. [2] discloses an experimental protocol they used to collect the time-dependent magnetic moment data. In this Commentary Paper, we point out that the protocol is not applicable to H${}_3$S under high pressure and propose an alternative protocol. The correct protocol demonstrates that the claim in Refs. [1,2] – that their time-dependent magnetic moment data serve as evidence of “pinning and thermally activated motion of vortices” – is indeed invalid.