Vortex dynamics in two-dimensional systems at high driving forces

Abstract

We study numerically the dynamics of two-dimensional vortex systems at zero temperature. In addition to pinned states and turbulent plastic flow, we find motion of vortices in rough channels along the direction of the driving force. In this decoupled channel regime we demonstrate how topological defects mediate the phase slip of different channels moving with different velocities. We thus provide important confirmation of recent analytical work describing vortex dynamics at high driving forces such as the moving glass theory of Giamarchi and Le Doussal. For the largest driving forces we find that the channels couple and observe elastic motion.