Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 46, Number 6, June II 1999
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 780 - 786 | |
Section | Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magneticand optical properties | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i1999-00332-7 | |
Published online | 01 September 2002 |
A new broken U(1)-symmetry in extreme type-II superconductors
1
Norwegian University of Science and Technology - N-7034 Trondheim,
Norway
2
California Institute of Technology - Pasadena CA91125, USA
Received:
21
December
1998
Accepted:
15
April
1999
A phase transition within the molten phase of the Abrikosov vortex system without disorder in extreme type-II superconductors is found via large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations. It involves breaking a U(1)-symmetry, and has a zero-field counterpart, unlike vortex lattice melting. Its hallmark is the loss of number-conservation of connected vortex paths threading the entire system in any direction, driving the vortex line tension to zero. This tension plays the role of a generalized "stiffness” of the vortex liquid, and serves as a probe of the loss of order at the transition, where a weak specific heat anomaly is found.
PACS: 74.20.De – Phenomenological theories (two-fluid, Ginzburg Landau, etc.) / 74.25.Dw – Superconductivity phase diagrams / 74.25.Ha – Magnetic properties
© EDP Sciences, 1999
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