We calculate analytically the dynamic critical exponent zMC measured in Monte Carlo simulations for a vortex loop model of the superconducting transition, and account for the simulation results. In the weak screening limit, where magnetic fluctuations are neglected, the dynamic exponent is found to be zMC = 3/2. In the perfect screening limit, zMC = 5/2. We relate zMC to the actual value of z observable in experiments and find that z ∼ 2, consistent with some experimental results.PACS Numbers: 05.70.Jk, 74.40.+k, 75.40.Gb, 75.40.Mg The discovery of the short coherence length cuprate superconductors has allowed heretofore inaccessible fluctuation effects in superconductors to be probed. Beginning with the penetration depth measurements of Kamal et al. [1], and including measurements of magnetic susceptibility [2,3], resistivity [3,4] and specific heat [5], static and dynamic fluctuation effects have been convincingly observed and accurately quantified. These measurements are consistent with the theory of a strongly type-II superconductor, with a weak coupling of the order parameter to the electromagnetic field, described by the 3D XY model coupled to a gauge field [6].The dynamic critical exponent, z, characterizes the relaxation to equilibrium of fluctuations in the critical regime of systems exhibiting a second order phase transition [7,8]. In particular it relates the time scale of relaxation, τ , to a relevant length scale, x: τ ∼ x z . For infinite systems x is the correlation length, ξ. Near the critical point, the correlation length diverges and the relaxation time tends to infinity, a phenomenon known as critical slowing down. In finite size scaling studies, x is identified as the system size L.The dynamic critical exponent, obtained from the measurement of longitudinal dc-resistivity for YBCO is z = 1.5 ± 0.1 in finite but small magnetic fields [9]. Similar results were reported for the zero-field DC conductivity [10,11]. Frequency dependent microwave conductivity experiments yield z ∼ 2.3 − 3.0 [12]. On reanalysis it was found that the data were consistent with z ∼ 2 provided one neglected the region close to T c [13]. Moloni et al. obtained z = 1.25 ± 0.05 at low magnetic fields [14], but a later, more complicated analysis by these authors gave z = 2.3 ± 0.2. More recently, DC conductivity measurements on single crystal BSCCO samples were interpreted to give evidence for z ∼ 2 [15]. In summary, experiments do not yet yield a consistent picture of the critical dynamics.If the dynamic exponent were indeed z ∼ 1.5 , then this would be surprising. Precisely this value is obtained for the superfluid transition in He 4 where the combination of second sound (a propagating mode, therefore z = 1) and order parameter dynamics (diffusive, therefore z ∼ 2) lead to z = 3/2 (model E dynamics) [7]. In YBCO, however, the combination of a momentum sink arising from the lattice, and the Coulomb interaction destroying the longitudinal current fluctuations should lead to pure order parameter dynamics and a prediction t...