the processing of bulk materials. The solution of synthesis and processing problems for superconductors is key to the development of a competitive superconducting technology.

There has been a recent surge of activity in macroscopic modeling for superconductivity. The mathematical methods involved include the use of asymptotic analysis, free-boundary formulations, variational principles, and finite-element approximations. For comprehensive reviews, see Chapman et al. (1992) and Du et al. (1992).