Abstract:
Conditions for thermal stabilization of the electrodynamic states of a superconductor are studied. The macroscopic states are simulated in the nonisothermal approximation by numerically solving a set of the Fourier and Maxwell equations with the magnetic flux penetration boundary unknown. Stability criteria for the critical state described by the viscous flow model are formulated. The results are compared with those following from the isothermal theory. It is shown that errors inherent in the isothermal approximation are significant for a thermally insulated superconductor. Therefore, the well-known adiabatic criterion of stability formulated in the isothermal approximation limits the domain of stable states, since a correct determination of conditions for the superconducting-normal state transition must take into account the thermal history of the stable superconducting state formation. On the whole, the error of loss calculation in the isothermal approximation increases when the heat transfer coefficient decreases or an external magnetic field sweep and the size of the superconductor’s cross section increases. On the other hand, nonisothermal stability conditions expand the variety of allowable states, since they include conditions that links the currently developed theory of thermomagnetic instability, the theory of losses, and the theory of a superconductor’s thermal stabilization.
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