Transition between different quantum states in a mesoscopic system: The superconducting ring

Journal Article · Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1996 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.53.9296· OSTI ID:280192

Horane, E M ^[1]; Castro, J I ^[2]; Buscaglia, G C; Lopez, A ^[3]

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1. Instituto Balseiro, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, 8400 Bariloche (Argentina)
2. Departamento Fisico-Quimica, Facultad Filosofia Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan (Argentina)
3. Instituto Balseiro, and Centro Atomico Bariloche, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, 8400 Bariloche (Argentina)

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of a superconducting ring, both analytically and numerically, relying upon the Ginzburg-Landau theory. We find that modulated solutions for the order parameter play a role in describing the thermodynamic transitions between consecutive modes of uniform order parameter, associated with different quantum numbers. Exact expressions for these solutions are given in terms of elliptic functions. We identify the family of energy extrema which, being saddle points of the energy in the functional space of the distributions of the order parameter, represent the energy barrier to be overcome for transitions between different solutions. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

• OSTI ID: 280192
• Journal Information: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 53, Issue 14; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTING WIRES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
RINGS
GINZBURG-LANDAU THEORY
ORDER PARAMETERS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
NUMERICAL SOLUTION