We study the pinning dynamics of magnetic flux (vortex) lines in a disordered
type-II superconductor. Using numerical simulations of a directed elastic line
model, we extract the pinning time distributions of vortex line segments. We
compare different model implementations for the disorder in the surrounding
medium: discrete, localized pinning potential wells that are either attractive
and repulsive or purely attractive, and whose strengths are drawn from a
Gaussian distribution; as well as continuous Gaussian random potential
landscapes. We find that both schemes yield power law distributions in the
pinned phase as predicted by extreme-event statistics, yet they differ
significantly in their effective scaling exponents and their short-time
behavior.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
