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Spontaneous fluxoid formation in superconducting loops

R. Monaco, J. Mygind, R. J. Rivers, and V. P. Koshelets
Phys. Rev. B 80, 180501(R) – Published 2 November 2009
Physics logo See Viewpoint: Can superconducting rings provide clues to the early development of the universe?

Abstract

We report on the experimental verification of the Zurek-Kibble scenario in an isolated superconducting ring over a wide parameter range. The probability of creating a single flux quantum spontaneously during the fast normal-superconducting phase transition of a wide Nb loop clearly follows a scaling relation on the quenching time τQ, as one would expect if the transition took place as fast as causality permits. However, the observed Zurek-Kibble scaling exponent σ=0.62±0.15 is two times larger than anticipated for large loops. Assuming Gaussian winding number densities we show that this doubling is well founded for small annuli.

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  • Received 24 July 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.180501

©2009 American Physical Society

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Can superconducting rings provide clues to the early development of the universe?

Published 2 November 2009

Defects—in the form of vortices in superconductors or “strings” in the fabric of the universe—can reveal the state of a system at the time it was cooled.

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Authors & Affiliations

R. Monaco*

  • Istituto di Cibernetica del CNR, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy and Unità INFM Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Italy

J. Mygind

  • DTU Physics, B309, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark

R. J. Rivers

  • Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom

V. P. Koshelets§

  • Kotel’nikov Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Science, Mokhovaya 11, Bldg 7, 125009 Moscow, Russia

  • *roberto@sa.infn.it
  • myg@fysik.dtu.dk
  • r.rivers@imperial.ac.uk
  • §valery@hitech.cplire.ru

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Issue

Vol. 80, Iss. 18 — 1 November 2009

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