Magnetic vortices for a Ginzburg-Landau type energy with discontinuous constraint

This paper is devoted to an analysis of vortex-nucleation for a Ginzburg-Landau functional with discontinuous constraint. This functional has been proposed as a model for vortex-pinning, and usually accounts for the energy resulting from the interface of two superconductors. The critical applied magnetic field for vortex nucleation is estimated in the London singular limit, and as a by-product, results concerning vortex-pinning and boundary conditions on the interface are obtained.