The distribution of superconductivity near a magnetic barrier (Q1733819)

The paper studies superconductivity near a magnetic barrier $\Gamma$ in a superconducting infinite cylindrical sample $\Omega$ subjected to a magnetic field $H$ with a direction parallel to the axis of the cylinder by focusing on the case where the applied magnetic field is a step function. The paper demonstrates the existence of edge current occurring near the magnetic barrier $\Gamma$ by providing examples where superconductivity concentrates at the interface separating the distinct values of the magnetic field. The Ginzburg-Landau (GL) free energy functional is considered with parameter $\kappa$ depending on the temperature and the type of the material. It is a physical characteristic scale of the sample and it measures the size of vortex cores. The ground state of the superconductor is obtained by minimizing configurations of the GL functional. Critical points are weak solutions of the corresponding GL equations. The behavior of the superconductor is considered when the applied magnetic field is piecewise constant with a jump discontinuity along a smooth curve of magnetic barrier $\Gamma$ at which the strength and/or the sign of the magnetic fields change. The parameter $H$ depends on $\kappa$ in the following manner $H=b\kappa$ ($b$ is a fixed parameter). The estimates for the nonlinear GL energy are established into the framework of a spectral approach. The paper analyzes the interesting phenomenon happening when bulk superconductivity is only restricted to a narrow neighborhood of the magnetic edge, and this only occurs when the values of the two magnetic fields interacting near are of opposite signs. The first main Theorem 1.7 states global asymptotics for the ground state energy and minimizers of the GL functional. The second main Theorem 1.11 describes the local behavior of the minimizing order parameter $\Psi$, enhancing the statement in Theorem 1.7 and stating local asymptotics. The statements of the main theorems involve two non-decreasing continuous functions, namely the surface energy and the barrier energy constructed in the paper. These theorems assert the nucleation of superconductivity near the magnetic barrier $\Gamma$ when the fixed parameter $b$ crosses the threshold value. The results in Theorems 1.7 and 1.11 are discussed in the cases where the magnetic barrier $\Gamma$ intersects the boundary $\partial\Omega$ of the sample. Firstly, it demonstrates the existence of the edge current along the magnetic barrier $\Gamma$, which is consistent with physics. Secondly, it marks a distinct behavior from the one known for uniform applied magnetic fields, in which case the whole surface carries superconductivity evenly. Moreover, the results display the strength of the applied magnetic field responsible for the breakdown of the edge current along the barrier $\Gamma$. The presented research stages include subsequent consideration of a priori estimates, exponential decay results, and a linear 2D-operator with a step magnetic field. Then the 2D-reduced GL energy is introduced, along with the barrier energy. The authors present the Frenet coordinates defined in a tubular neighborhood of the curve $\Gamma$ and used in the context of surface superconductivity. Further, a reference energy is defined that describes the local behavior of the full GL energy in the GL functional and the local behavior of the minimizing order parameter near the edge $\Gamma$ is analyzed. Moreover, the authors recover well-known results on the local behavior of the order parameter near the surface $\partial\Omega$. Finally, by collecting all the obtained estimates, the proofs of main Theorems 1.7 and 1.11 are completed.