Vortex cutting.pdf (5.4 MB)
Download fileVortex cutting in superconductors.
journal contribution
posted on 2016-12-15, 00:00 authored by Glatz A, Vlasko-Vlasov VK, Kwok WK, Crabtree GWVortex cutting and reconnection is an intriguing and still-unsolved problem central to many areas of classical
and quantum physics, including hydrodynamics, astrophysics, and superconductivity. Here, we describe a
comprehensive investigation of the crossing of magnetic vortices in superconductors using time dependent
Ginsburg-Landau modeling. Within a macroscopic volume, we simulate initial magnetization of an anisotropic
high temperature superconductor followed by subsequent remagnetization with perpendicular magnetic fields,
creating the crossing of the initial and newly generated vortices. The time resolved evolution of vortex lines as they
approach each other, contort, locally conjoin, and detach, elucidates the fine details of the vortex-crossing scenario
under practical situations with many interacting vortices in the presence of weak pinning. Our simulations also
reveal left-handed helical vortex instabilities that accompany the remagnetization process and participate in the
vortex crossing events.