A variational approach to the macroscopic electrodynamics of anisotropic hard superconductors (Q834739)

This paper deals with a variational problem arising in the study of the Bean critical state model for anisotropic superconductors. The approach is based on a quasistatic evolution of the penetrated magnetic field, which is obtained by combining the finite-difference expression of Faraday's law with Bean's law. In the last part of the paper the authors are concerned with a special case of a long cylindrical anisotropic superconductor placed into a nonstationary, uniform axial magnetic field. The parallel geometry enables a two-dimensional reduction of the problem, which can be explicitly solved. Most of the results described in the present paper are described by means of the \(\Gamma\)-convergence theory.