Simple Ginzburg-Landau Theory for Vortices in a Crystal Lattice

Abstract

We study the Ginzburg-Landau model with a nonlocal quartic term as a simple phenomenological model for superconductors in the presence of coupling between the vortex lattice and the underlying crystal lattice. In mean-field theory, our model is consistent with a general oblique vortex lattice ranging from a triangular lattice to a square lattice. This simple formulation enables us to study the effect of thermal fluctuations in the vortex liquid regime. We calculate the structure factor of the vortex liquid nonperturbatively and find Bragg-like peaks with four-fold symmetry appearing in the structure factor even though there is only a short-range crystalline order.