Vortex distribution in a confining potential

Abstract

We study a model of interacting vortices in a type II superconductor. In the weak coupling limit, we constructed a mean-field theory which allows us to accurately calculate the vortex density distribution inside a confining potential. In the strong coupling limit, the correlations between the particles become important and the mean-field theory fails. Contrary to recent suggestions, this does not imply failure of the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics, as we clearly demonstrate by comparing the results of molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations.