Dynamics in mesoscopic superconducting rings: Multiple phase-slips and vortex–antivortex pairs

We investigate the situation where a mesoscopic 1D ring or 2D cylinder is subject to a magnetic field by simulating the time dependant Ginzburg–Landau equations with periodic boundary conditions. We investigate the different possible evolutions for the 1D phase slip phenomenon. The case of the multiple phase slips is analyzed in details and we study the competition between simultaneous and consecutive multiple phase slips analytically and numerically. In 2D we study the creation of vortex–antivortex pairs. Following the theory of the Kibble–Zurek mechanism, we quenched the sample by applying a strong current and observe vortex–antivortex pairs dynamics.