Vortex Line Fluctuations in Superconductors from Elementary Quantum Mechanics

TL;DR

This paper uses elementary quantum mechanics concepts to analyze vortex line fluctuations in high-temperature superconductors, linking classical flux line behavior to quantum path integrals to understand various critical phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach connecting classical vortex line physics with quantum mechanics to study critical currents and flux lattice melting.

Findings

Determines thermal renormalization of critical currents

Estimates flux lattice melting temperature

Analyzes entanglement in dense flux liquids

Abstract

Concepts from elementary quantum mechanics can be used to understand vortex line fluctuations in high-temperature superconductors. Flux lines are essentially classical objects, described by a string tension, their mutual repulsion, and interactions with pinning centers. The classical partition function, however, is isomorphic to the imaginary time path integral description of quantum mechanics. This observation is used to determine the thermal renormalization of critical currents, the decoupling field, the flux lattice melting temperature at low and moderate inductions, and to estimate the degree of entanglement in dense flux liquids. The consequences of the ``polymer glass'' freezing scenario, which assumes that the kinetic constraints of entanglement prevent field cooled flux liquids from crystallizing, are reviewed.