Researchers uncover how vortex-like defects in liquid crystals mimic superconducting behaviour, forming structured Abrikosov clusters
Superconductors are supplies that, beneath a sure crucial temperature, exhibit zero electrical resistance and utterly expel magnetic fields, a phenomenon often called the Meissner impact. They are often categorized into two sorts.
Kind-I superconductors are what we sometimes consider as standard superconductors. They totally repel magnetic fields and abruptly lose their superconducting properties when the magnetic area exceeds a sure threshold, often called the crucial area, which relies on each magnetic area energy and temperature.
In distinction, Kind-II superconductors have two crucial area values. Because the magnetic area will increase, the fabric transitions by totally different states. At low magnetic fields beneath the primary crucial area, magnetic flux is totally excluded. Between the primary and second crucial fields, some magnetic flux enters the fabric. Above the second crucial area, superconductivity is destroyed.
In Kind-II superconductors, when magnetic flux enters the fabric, it does so at discrete factors, forming quantized vortices. These vortices repel one another and self-organize into an everyday sample often called the Abrikosov lattice. This impact has additionally been noticed in Bose-Einstein condensates (bosons at extraordinarily low temperatures) and chiral magnets (magnetic supplies with spirally aligned magnetic moments). Apparently, related vortex self-organization is seen in liquid crystals, providing deeper insights into the underlying physics.
On this research, the researchers examine vortex behaviour inside a liquid crystal droplet, revealing a novel phenomenon termed Abrikosov clusters, which parallels the buildings seen in Kind-II superconductors. They study the transition from an isotropic liquid section to a chiral liquid section upon cooling. Via a mixture of experimental observations and theoretical modelling, the research demonstrates how chiral domains, in different phrases topological defects, cluster as a result of interaction between vortex repulsion and the spatial confinement imposed by the droplet.
To mannequin this behaviour, the researchers use a mathematical framework initially developed for superconductivity known as the Ginzburg-Landau equation, which helps establish how sure vortex patterns emerge by minimizing the system’s power. An attention-grabbing commentary is that mild passing by the chiral domains of the droplet can resultingly receive chirality. This implies that the analysis could supply revolutionary methods to steer and form mild, making it helpful for each knowledge communication and astronomical imaging.
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Vortex dynamics and mutual friction in superconductors and Fermi superfluids by N B Kopnin (2002)
