Abstract: Analysis of the available data on critical currents in amorphous superconductors shows a striking similarity in the defects responsible for the pinning force in all samples in which two-dimensional flux pinning can be observed. Order-of-magnitude calculations show that this is consistent with the existence of disclinations in glasses as has been proposed in different theoretical papers by Rivier, Nelson, Kleman, and Sadoc. The evolution of pinning forces with annealing also shows a similar behavior in all the published data, and the trend is towards a state with fewer or smaller disclinations. If disclinations are identified with two-level systems this trend is consistent with a decrease of the scattering of phonons by TLS which is observed upon annealing in thermal conductivity measurements.

Abstract: The critical-current curves of amorphous samples which exhibit collective flux pinning have been analyzed, and it was found that the nonlinear part can be fitted by an expression of the form V(I)[(I-IK)/IK]. This form, which could be due to critical behavior, is consistent with an interpretation of the unpinning of vortices in the collective regime as a phase transition between the static flux-line lattice (FLL) and the FLL in steady-state movement as has been proposed by Fisher.

Abstract: By means of the vibrating-reed technique we have measured the evolution upon low-temperature annealing of the internal friction Q-1 and sound velocity v of the Cu30Zr70 amorphous alloy between 0.1 and 10 K. With an applied magnetic field of 5.6 T we measured also the normal-state behavior of both properties. Upon annealing, the internal friction and the slope of the logarithmic temperature dependence of v in the superconducting state decrease, in agreement with the standard tunneling model. Our results indicate that with thermal treatments, the coupling constant between tunneling systems (TSs) and phonons decreases, and the density of states of the TS remains constant or decreases, at most 25%, in the fully relaxed state, which is in agreement with published specific-heat results in these materials. From our data we conclude that the coupling constant between the TS and phonons should be very sensitive to the relaxed state of the disordered structure. The sound-velocity behavior strongly indicates that relaxation processes up to 10 K involve the interaction with the TS. A well-defined change of slope in v at the superconducting critical temperature Tc is observed in the as-quenched and the first relaxed state, which cannot be explained with the standard tunneling model and the Korringa-like relaxation rate between the TS and electrons. Several features observed in the superconducting and normal states lead to the conclusion that the TS-electron interaction problem remains unsolved.

Abstract: We have studied the response of the vortex lattice (VL) in a YBa2Cu3O7-delta sample with oriented twin boundaries (TB's) and in an untwinned sample. In the twinned sample the density of twin boundaries is estimated from decoration experiments. The TB's affect the liquid-to-solid transition in the vortex structure, which is of first order in the twin free crystal and to a Bose glass in the twinned sample. We measure the ac susceptibility, and find that the response strongly depends on the orientation of the probing ac field with respect to the TB's. The ac field produces a tilting stress on the vortices. With the applied de magnetic field H-dc parallel to the c axis, the response of the VL is weaker when the tilt is parallel to the TB's than when it is perpendicular or at 45 degrees to the TB's. The results are explained by the fact that the VL is locked to the twin boundaries for small deviations of H-dc from the c axis and is partially pinned to them for larger angles. By measuring over the whole angular range we estimate the angles over which each regime is realized for different temperatures. The results of the detwinned sample are used for comparison.

Abstract: We have developed a relatively simple cryostat which allows us to image turbulent flows in superfluid helium at temperatures below 2 K, using frozen H2 particles. We analyze the statistics of the velocities of these solid tracers, which follow the turbulent flow generated by oscillating bodies. We have also studied one of the oscillators working in air at room temperature, and traced the flow with solid talcum particles for comparison. Images were recorded by a digital camera at 240 frames per second, while frequencies of the oscillators are between 20 to 45 Hz. The flow is characterized by a modified Reynolds number Reδ based on the viscous penetration depth δ. Software in a dedicated particle tracking velocimetry code allows us to compute the trajectories and velocities of tens of thousands of particles. We have obtained the number of particles for equally spaced intervals of the velocity modulus. For the oscillators in the superfluid, the probability of finding particles at higher velocities has an exponential decay. Within our resolution the statistics in the superfluid for oscillating objects with sharp borders is largely independent of Reδ, while the logarithmic decay at low velocities seems faster than for high velocities for rounded objects. On the other hand, for data taken in air the result is closer to a classical Gaussian distribution of velocities.