Nucleation of bulk superconductivity close to critical magnetic field

We consider the two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau functional with constant applied magnetic field. For applied magnetic fields close to the second critical field $H_{C_2}$ and large Ginzburg-Landau parameter, we provide leading order estimates on the energy of minimizing configurations. We obtain a fine threshold value of the applied magnetic field for which bulk superconductivity contributes to the leading order of the energy. Furthermore, the energy of the bulk is related to that of the Abrikosov problem in a periodic lattice. A key ingredient of the proof is a novel $L^\infty$-bound which is of independent interest

On the energy of bound states for magnetic Schr\"odinger operators

We provide a leading order semiclassical asymptotics of the energy of bound states for magnetic Neumann Schr\"odinger operators in two dimensional (exterior) domains with smooth boundaries. The asymptotics is valid all the way up to the bottom of the essential spectrum. When the spectral parameter is varied near the value where bound states become allowed in the interior of the domain, we show that the energy has a boundary and a bulk component. The estimates rely on coherent states, in particular on the construction of `boundary coherent states', and magnetic Lieb-Thirring estimates.Comment: 26 page

Lack of diamagnetism and the Little-Parks effect

When a superconducting sample is submitted to a sufficiently strong external magnetic field, the superconductivity of the material is lost. In this paper we prove that this effect does not, in general, take place at a unique value of the external magnetic field strength. Indeed, for a sample in the shape of a narrow annulus the set of magnetic field strengths for which the sample is superconducting is not an interval. This is a rigorous justification of the Little-Parks effect. We also show that the same oscillation effect can happen for disc-shaped samples if the external magnetic field is non-uniform. In this case the oscillations can even occur repeatedly along arbitrarily large values of the Ginzburg--Landau parameter $\kappa$. The analysis is based on an understanding of the underlying spectral theory for a magnetic Schr\"{o}dinger operator. It is shown that the ground state energy of such an operator is not in general a monotone function of the intensity of the field, even in the limit of strong fields

The electron densities of pseudorelativistic eigenfunctions are smooth away from the nuclei

We consider a pseudorelativistic model of atoms and molecules, where the kinetic energy of the electrons is given by $\sqrt{p^2+m^2}-m$. In this model the eigenfunctions are generally not even bounded, however, we prove that the corresponding one-electron densities are smooth away from the nuclei.Comment: 16 page