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Non-equilibrium coherent vortex states and subharmonic giant Shapiro steps in Josephson junction arrays

This is a review of recent work on the dynamic response of Josephson junction arrays driven by dc and ac currents. The arrays are modeled by the resistively shunted Josephson junction model, appropriate for proximity effect junctions, including self-induced magnetic fields as well as disorder. The relevance of the self-induced fields is measured as a function of a parameter $κ=λ_L/a$, with $λ_L$ the London penetration depth of the arrays, and $a$ the lattice spacing. The transition from Type II ($κ>1$) to Type I ($κ<1$) behavior is studied in detail. We compare the results for models with self, self+nearest-neighbor, and full inductance matrices. In the $κ=\infty$ limit, we find that when the initial state has at least one vortex-antivortex pair, after a characteristic transient time these vortices unbind and {\it radiate} other vortices. These radiated vortices settle into a parity-broken, time-periodic, {\em axisymmetric coherent vortex state} (ACVS), characterized by alternate rows of positive and negative vortices lying along a tilted axis. The ACVS produces subharmonic steps in the current voltage (IV) characteristics, typical of giant Shapiro steps. For finite $κ$ we find that the IV's show subharmonic giant Shapiro steps, even at zero external magnetic field. We find that these subharmonic steps are produced by a whole family of coherent vortex oscillating patterns, with their structure changing as a function of $κ$. In general, we find that these patterns are due to a break down of translational invariance produced, for example, by disorder or antisymmetric edge-fields. The zero field case results are in good qualitative agreement with experiments