Equipartition of current in parallel conductors on cooling through the superconducting transition

Abstract

Our experiments show that for two or more pieces of a wire, of different lengths in general, combined in parallel and connected to a dc source, the current ratio evolves towards unity as the combination is cooled to the superconducting transition temperature T_c, and remains pinned at that value below it. This redistribution of the total current towards equipartition without external fine-tuning is a surprise. It can be physically understood in terms of a mechanism that involves the flux-flow resistance associated with the transport current in a wire of type-II superconducting material. It is a fact that the flux-flow resistance increases with the current that drives the current division towards equipartition.