Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Driven Vortex Matter: The Reversible-Irreversible Transition, Dynamical Ordering, and Kibble-Zurek Mechanism

This book presents experimental studies of nonequilibrium phase transitions induced by ac and dc forces in collectively interacting systems—a superconducting vortex system with random pinning. It first shows that a phase transition from reversible to irreversible flow occurs by increasing vortex density as well as amplitude of ac shear, which is indicative of the universality of the reversible-irreversible transition. Two distinct flow regimes are also found in the reversible phase. Next, t...