title: Creep of superconducting vortices in the limit of vanishing temperature: a fingerprint of off-equilibrium dynamics.
abstract: We theoretically study the creep of vortex matter in superconductors. The low temperature experimental phenomenology, previously interpreted in terms of "quantum tunneling" of vortices, is reproduced by Monte Carlo simulations of a purely "classical" vortex model. We demonstrate that a nonzero creep rate in the limit of vanishing temperature is to be expected in systems with slow relaxations as a consequence of their off-equilibrium evolution in a complex free energy landscape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College, 180 Queen's Gate, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nicodemi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jeldtoft Jensen