A Study of Inhomogeneities and Anisotrophies In Superconductors via Ginzburg-Landau Type models

Superconductivity continues to be of great theoretical and practical interest and remains a challenging area of scientific inquiry. Most superconductors of practical utility are of type-II, i.e., they allow the penetration of magnetic fields in the form of tubes of flux that are referred to as "vortices." Motion of these vortices due to, e.g., applied currents, induce a loss of perfect conductivity. Knowing how vortices move and arrange themselves in lattice structures, how their movement is suppressed by pinning mechanisms, and how their movement is affected by thermal fluctuations is critical to understanding how to maintain resistanceless current flow. We study a variety of Ginzburg-Landau type models for superconductivity that can account for inhomogeneous and isotropy materials, grain boundaries, and thermal fluctuations. We develop robust, accurate, and efficient numerical codes and apply them to numerous studies of how vortex motions are affected by the various mechanisms mentioned above. We also examine some analytical aspects of type-II superconductors under the influence of thermal fluctuations.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mathematics

Department dc:contributor.department

Mathematics

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1997

Author dc:creator

• Deang, Jennifer M.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Gunzburger, Max D.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Burns, John A.
• Cliff, Eugene M.
• Herdman, Terry L.
• Peterson, Janet S.

• numerical analysis
• superconductivity

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-1913943975930

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30326