Development of 'explosion'-type instability in superconductors with transport current

Instability of 'explosion' type in a superconductor carrying a transport current is studied theoretically. Such instability arises if there is no stable normal state of the superconductor due to its adiabatic conditions or strong dependence of the resistivity on the temperature. It is shown that the superconductivity destruction results from the propagation of the temperature wave of 'explosion' type with rapidly increasing temperature of the normal region. The boundary between the normal and superconducting regions moves with a constant velocity. Group-theoretical analysis of the problem allows one to obtain analytical formulae for the wave propagation velocity. Analytical results are confirmed by a direct numerical simulation of the instability development. The results obtained may be of importance for studying the cryostability of both conventional and high-temperature superconductors. (author)