Generalized theory of magnetic field diffusion in superconducting cylinders: II

We present the results of nonperturbative calculations of the total transition time for the magnetically induced phase transition in a long superconducting cylinder of type I material. We investigate the behavior of the transition time in the field range H/sub c/ to 100H/sub c/ and show that there are two stages in the kinetics of the transition. Previous theories were based on a quasiequilibrium approach whose validity is restricted to the field range H/sub c/<H0<<2H/sub c/. Our results are in very good agreement with experimental values obtained with 6-9's pure indium cylinders