Strong vortex-antivortex fluctuations in the type II superconducting film

The small size vortex-antivortex pairs proliferation in type II superconducting film is considered for the wide interval of temperatures below Tc. The corresponding contribution to free energy is calculated. It is shown that these fluctuations give the main contribution to the heat capacity of the film both at low temperatures and in the vicinity of transition

On the number of two-dimensional threshold functions

A two-dimensional threshold function of k-valued logic can be viewed as coloring of the points of a k x k square lattice into two colors such that there exists a straight line separating points of different colors. For the number of such functions only asymptotic bounds are known. We give an exact formula for the number of two-dimensional threshold functions and derive more accurate asymptotics.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

How the Phase Slips in a Current-Biased Narrow Superconducting Stripe?

The theory of current transport in a narrow superconducting channel accounting for thermal fluctuations is revisited. The value of voltage appearing in the sample is found as the function of temperature (close to transition temperature $T-T_{\mathrm{c}}$ $\ll T_{\mathrm{c}}$) and bias current $J<J_{\mathrm{c}}$ ( $J_{\mathrm{c}}$ is a value of critical current calculated in the framework of the BCS approximation, neglecting thermal fluctuations). It is shown that the careful analysis of vortex crossing of the stripe results in considerable increase of the activation energy.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Describing neutrino oscillations in matter with Magnus expansion

We present new formalism for description of the neutrino oscillations in matter with varying density. The formalism is based on the Magnus expansion and has a virtue that the unitarity of the S-matrix is maintained in each order of perturbation theory. We show that the Magnus expansion provides better convergence of series: the restoration of unitarity leads to smaller deviations from the exact results especially in the regions of large transition probabilities. Various expansions are obtained depending on a basis of neutrino states and a way one splits the Hamiltonian into the self-commuting and non-commuting parts. In particular, we develop the Magnus expansion for the adiabatic perturbation theory which gives the best approximation. We apply the formalism to the neutrino oscillations in matter of the Earth and show that for the solar oscillation parameters the second order Magnus adiabatic expansion has better than 1% accuracy for all energies and trajectories. For the atmospheric $\Delta m^2$ and small 1-3 mixing the approximation works well ($< 3$ accuracy for $\sin^2 \theta_{13} = 0.01$) outside the resonance region (2.7 - 8) GeV.Comment: Discussions expanded, two figures and references added, the version will appear in Nucl. Phys.

Phase-sensitive quantum effects in Andreev conductance of the SNS system of metals with macroscopic phase breaking length

The dissipative component of electron transport through the doubly connected SNS Andreev interferometer indium (S)-aluminium (N)-indium (S) has been studied. Within helium temperature range, the conductance of the individual sections of the interferometer exhibits phase-sensitive oscillations of quantum-interference nature. In the non-domain (normal) state of indium narrowing adjacent to NS interface, the nonresonance oscillations have been observed, with the period inversely proportional to the area of the interferometer orifice. In the domain intermediate state of the narrowing, the magneto-temperature resistive oscillations appeared, with the period determined by the coherence length in the magnetic field equal to the critical one. The oscillating component of resonance form has been observed in the conductance of the macroscopic N-aluminium part of the system. The phase of the oscillations appears to be shifted by $\pi$ compared to that of nonresonance oscillations. We offer an explanation in terms of the contribution into Josephson current from the coherent quasiparticles with energies of order of the Thouless energy. The behavior of dissipative transport with temperature has been studied in a clean normal metal in the vicinity of a single point NS contact.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Low Temp. Phys., v. 29, No. 12, 200

Josephson and spontaneous currents at the interface between two d-wave superconductors with transport current in the banks

A stationary Josephson effect in the ballistic contact of two d-wave superconductors with different axes orientation and with tangential transport current in the banks is considered theoretically. We study the influence of the transport current on the current-phase dependence for the Josephson and tangential currents at the interface. It is demonstrated that the spontaneous surface current at the interface depends on the transport current in the banks due to the interference of the angle-dependent current-carrying condensate wave functions of the two superconductors.Comment: to be published in Fiz. Nizk. Temp. (Sov. J. Low Temp. Phys.), Vol.30, No.3 (2004