Vortex Softening: Origin of the second peak effect in Bi2_2Sr2_2CaCu2_2O8+δ_{8+\delta}

Transverse ac permeability measurements in Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta }$ single crystals at low fields and temperatures in a vortex configuration free of external forces show that the decrease of the critical current as measured by magnetization loops at the second peak effect is an artifact due to creep. On the other hand, the increase of critical current at the second peak is due to a genuine softening of the tilting elastic properties of vortices in the individual pinning regime that precedes the transition to a disorder state.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, RevTex, two column versio

Towards a new quantization of Dirac's monopole

There are several mathematical and physical reasons why Dirac's quantization must hold. How far one can go without it remains an open problem. The present work outlines a few steps in this direction.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of "IV Taller de la Division de Gravitacion y Fisica Matematica". Misprints corrected, references and acknowledgments adde

On representations of the rotation group and magnetic monopoles

Recently (Phys. Lett. A302 (2002) 253, hep-th/0208210; hep-th/0403146) employing bounded infinite-dimensional representations of the rotation group we have argued that one can obtain the consistent monopole theory with generalized Dirac quantization condition, $2\kappa\mu \in \mathbb Z$, where $\kappa$ is the weight of the Dirac string. Here we extend this proof to the unbounded infinite-dimensional representations.Comment: References adde