Flux and voltage periodic behaviour in a superconducting weak-link ring

Starting with a simple Lagrangian for the electromagnetic field with broken gauge symmetry, we derive an effective circuit Hamiltonian for a superconducting weak-link ring. The energy eigenstates of this Hamiltonian exhibit sensitivity to both external magnetic flux and an applied Faraday law voltage. We show that the flux periodicity of the rf SQUID ring, and the voltage periodic behaviour found in ultra-small-capacitance weak-link rings, can be seen as limiting cases of a more general phenomenon.