Magnetic vector hysteresis model with dry friction-like pinning

Abstract A phenomenological model of magnetic vector hysteresis is described. Magnetization is expressed as a superposition from the contributions of a large number of pseudoparticles. The free energy of individual particles is assumed to be the sum of a convex component representing anhysteretic behaviour, and a small ripple representing the influence of pinning sites. The ripple component is found to give a dry friction-like hysteresis mechanism. Some comparisons with experiments are given.