Abstract |
The work in this thesis is concerned with the study of some aspects of the physics of flux vortices within the framework of dynamical Ginzburg-Landau model, relevant to the description of a superconductor or of an idealized bosonic plasma. It is shown that a non-relativistic scalar field coupled minimally to electromagnetism supports in the presence of a homogeneous background electric charge density the existence of smooth, finite-energy topogically stable flux vortices. The static properties of such vortices and vortex-pairs are studied in detail. By using a constrained variational calculation,the interaction potential of two minimal vortices is obtained. It is proven analytically that a free vortex is spontaneously pinned, while under the action of an external force it moves with a calculable speed perpendicular to it. Finally the motion of vortices under the influence of several external probes is studied nymerically. It is shown that up to a fine "cyclotron" internal motion, also studied in detail, two vortices brought together, rotate around each other, while a vortex and an antivortex move in formation parallel to each other.The drift of the vortex under the influence of a homogeneous external current, in a direction opposite to the current is also demostrated. The velocities of the vortices in the above cases are measured to be in remarkable agreement with recent theoretical predictions.
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