First order melting of vortex lattice in strongly type-II three dimensional superconductors

We calculate the transition line of the first-order melting of vortex lattice in a three-dimensional type-II superconductor in fields of several Tesla, using the results from the density-functional theory of vortex melting in two dimensions and the self-consistent Hartree treatment of correlations along the field. The result is in quantitative agreement with experiment. The temperature width of the hysteresis, the latent heat, the Debye-Waller factor and the magnetization at the transition are discussed.