CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST-ORDER VORTEX LATTICE MELTING - JUMPS IN ENTROPY AND MAGNETIZATION

We derive expressions for the jumps in entropy and magnetization chara cterizing the first-order melting transition of a flux line lattice. I n our analysis we account for the temperature dependence of the Landau parameters and make use of the proper shape of the melting line as de termined by the relative importance of electromagnetic and Josephson i nteractions. The results agree well with experiments on anisotropic Y1 Ba2Cu3O7-delta and layered Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8 materials and reaffirm the v alidity of the London model.