Equilibrium properties of a Josephson-junction ladder with screening effects.

In this paper we calculate the ground state phase diagram of a Josephson Junction ladder when screening field effects are taken into account. We study the ground state configuration as a function of the external field, the penetration depth and the anisotropy of the ladder, using different approximations to the calculation of the induced fields. A series of tongues, characterized by the vortex density ω, is obtained. The vortex density of the ground state, as a function of the external field, is a Devil’s staircase, with a plateau for every rational value of ω. The width of each of these steps depends strongly on the approximation made when calculating the inductance effect: if the self-inductance matrix is considered, the ω = 0 phase tends to occupy all the diagram as the penetration depth decreases. If, instead, the whole inductance matrix is considered, the width of any step tends to a non-zero value in the limit of very low penetration depth. We have also analyzed the stability of some simple metastable phases: screening fields are shown to enlarge their