Zurek-Kibble domain structures: the dynamics of spontaneous vortex formation in annular Josephson tunnel junctions.

Zurek-Kibble mechanism for the spontaneous vortex formation in Nb-Al/Al(ox)/Nb Josephson tunnel junctions: new theory and experiment.

New scaling behavior has been both predicted and observed in the spontaneous production of fluxons in quenched Nb-Al/Al(ox)/Nb annular Josephson tunnel junctions (JTJs) as a function of the quench time, tau(Q). The probability f(1) to trap a single defect during the normal-metal-superconductor phase transition clearly follows an allometric dependence on tau(Q) with a scaling exponent sigma = 0....

Kibble-Zurek scaling and its breakdown for spontaneous generation of Josephson vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates.

Atomic Bose-Einstein condensates confined to a dual-ring trap support Josephson vortices as topologically stable defects in the relative phase. We propose a test of the scaling laws for defect formation by quenching a Bose gas to degeneracy in this geometry. Stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii simulations reveal a -1/4 power-law scaling of defect number with quench time for fast quenches, consistent wi...

Spontaneous fluxon formation in annular Josephson tunnel junctions

Experiments on spontaneous vortex formation in Josephson tunnel junctions

Scaling Laws for Fluxon Formation in Annular Josephson Tunnel Junctions

Although equilibrium, or adiabatic, correlation lengths ξ ad (T) diverge at the critical temperature T c of continuous phase transitions, correlation lengths always remain bounded, in practice. This is because causality prevents a system becoming ordered on very large scales within the finite time in which transitions are implemented. In consequence, the order parameter fields become frustrated...