Superheated and Dissipative Ginzburg-Landau Superconductors

Abstract

We study two superconducting systems using the Landau-Ginzburg equations. The first is a superconducting half-space with an applied magnetic field parallel to the surface. We calculate the maximum applied field that still supports superconductivity in the material by solving the Landau-Ginzburg equations analytically in asymptotic regimes of the Landau-Ginzburg parameter, kappa. These results are then checked against numerical studies. The other system is a thin, current-carrying strip. Here we do the first systematic study of nucleation of superconductivity in a normal strip and of the motion of a normal-superconducting interface in the presence of a current. This dissipative system requires solving the time-dependent Landau-Ginzburg equations analytically and numerically.