Heat Capacity of Mesoscopic Superconducting Disks

We study the heat capacity of isolated giant vortex states, which are good angular momentum ($L$) states, in a mesoscopic superconducting disk using the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory. At small magnetic fields the $L$=0 state qualitatively behaves like the bulk sample characterized by a discontinuity in heat capacity at $T_c$. As the field is increased the discontinuity slowly turns into a continuous change which is a finite size effect. The higher $L$ states show a continuous change in heat capacity at $T_c$ at all fields. We also show that for these higher $L$ states, the behavior of the peak position with change in field is related to the paramagnetic Meissner effect (irreversible) and can lead to an unambiguous observation of positive magnetization in mesoscopic superconductors.Comment: Final versio

Dissipation-driven superconductor-insulator transition in linear arrays of Josephson junctions capacitively coupled to metallic films

We study the low-temperature properties of linear Josephson-junction arrays capacitively coupled to a proximate two-dimensional diffusive metal. Using bosonization techniques, we derive an effective model for the array and obtain its critical properties and phases at T = 0 using a renormalization group analysis and a variational approach. While static screening effects given by the presence of the metal can be absorbed in a renormalization of the parameters of the array, backscattering originated in the dynamically screened Coulomb interaction produces a non-trivial stabilization of the insulating groundstate and can drive a superconductor-insulator transition. We study the consequences for the transport properties in the low-temperature regime. In particular, we calculate the resisitivity as a function of the temperature and the parameters of the array, and obtain clear signatures of a superconductor-insulator transition that could be observed in experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Vortex nucleation through edge states in finite Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the vortex nucleation in a finite Bose-Einstein condensate. Using a set of non-local and chiral boundary conditions to solve the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger equation of non-interacting bosons in a rotating trap, we obtain a quantitative expression for the characteristic angular velocity for vortex nucleation in a condensate which is found to be 35% of the transverse harmonic trapping frequency.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures. Both figures and the text have been revise

The Use of Animal Models to Study Bacterial Translocation During Acute Pancreatitis

Infection of pancreatic necrosis with intestinal flora is accepted to be a main predictor of outcome during severe acute pancreatitis. Bacterial translocation is the process whereby luminal bacteria migrate to extraintestinal sites. Animal models were proven indispensable in detecting three major aspects of bacterial translocation: small bowel bacterial overgrowth, mucosal barrier failure, and disturbed immune responses. Despite the progress made in the knowledge of bacterial translocation, the exact mechanism, origin and route of bacteria, and the optimal prophylactic and treatment strategies remain unclear. Methodological restrictions of animal models are likely to be the cause of this uncertainty. A literature review of animal models used to study bacterial translocation during acute pancreatitis demonstrates that many experimental techniques per se interfere with intestinal flora, mucosal barrier function, or immune response. Interference with these major aspects of bacterial translocation complicates interpretation of study results. This paper addresses these and other issues of animal models most frequently used to study bacterial translocation during acute pancreatitis

A numerical and symbolical approximation of the Nonlinear Anderson Model

A modified perturbation theory in the strength of the nonlinear term is used to solve the Nonlinear Schroedinger Equation with a random potential. It is demonstrated that in some cases it is more efficient than other methods. Moreover we obtain error estimates. This approach can be useful for the solution of other nonlinear differential equations of physical relevance.Comment: 21 pages and 7 figure

Mesoscopic superconductors in the London limit: equilibrium properties and metastability

We present a study of the behaviour of metastable vortex states in mesoscopic superconductors. Our analysis relies on the London limit within which it is possible to derive closed analytical expressions for the magnetic field and the Gibbs free energy. We consider in particular the situation where the vortices are symmetrically distributed along a closed ring. There, we obtain expressions for the confining Bean-Livingston barrier and for the magnetization which turns out to be paramagnetic away from thermodynamic equilibrium. At low temperature, the barrier is high enough for this regime to be observable. We propose also a local description of both thermodynamic and metastable states based on elementary topological considerations; we find structural phase transitions of vortex patterns between these metastable states and we calculate the corresponding critical fields.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figure