When a thin layer of normal (non-superconducting) material is placed between layers of superconducting material, a superconducting-normal-superconducting junction is formed. This paper considers a model for the junction based on the Ginzburg–Landau equations as the thickness of the normal layer tends to zero. The model is first derived formally by averaging the unknown variables in the normal layer. Rigorous convergence is then established, as well as an estimate for the order of convergence. Numerical results are shown for one-dimensional junctions.

In the small diffusion limit ε→0, metastable dynamics is studied for the generalized Burgers problem

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Here u=u(x, t) and f(u) is smooth, convex, and satisfies f(0)=f′(0)=0. The choice f(u)=u2/2 has been shown previously to arise in connection with the physical problem of upward flame-front propagation in a vertical channel in a particular parameter regime. In this context, the shape y=y(x, t) of the flame-front interface satisfies u=−yx. For this problem, it is shown that the principal eigenvalue associated with the linearization around an equilibrium solution corresponding to a parabolic-shaped flame-front interface is exponentially small. This exponentially small eigenvalue then leads to a metastable behaviour for the time- dependent problem. This behaviour is studied quantitatively by deriving an asymptotic ordinary differential equation characterizing the slow motion of the tip location of a parabolic-shaped interface. Similar metastability results are obtained for more general f(u). These asymptotic results are shown to compare very favourably with full numerical computations.

We consider a new concept of weak solutions to the phase-field equations with a small parameter ε characterizing the length of interaction. For the standard situation of a single free interface, this concept (in contrast with the common one) leads to the well-known Stefan–Gibbs–Thomson problem as ε→0. For the case of a large number M(ε) (M(ε)→∞ as ε→0) of free interfaces, which corresponds to the ‘wave-train’ interpretation of a ‘mushy region’, this concept allows us to obtain the limit problem as ε→0.

This paper deals with a wave process induced by an acoustic impulse in a vertically inhomogeneous half-space. The solvability of the corresponding direct initial boundary value problem is proved. We also consider a class of one-dimensional inverse problems including, in particular, the classical inverse problem of the scattering theory, the transmission and reflection problems of seismology, etc. It is shown that all these inverse problems are equivalent in a certain sense, and therefore can be solved by identical methods. Theoretical results are illustrated by numerical examples.