Scaling properties of the irreversible magnetization curves of high-temperature superconductors

A one-parameter scaling of the magnetization curves of the high-temperature superconductor Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O causes all data points in the irreversible regime to collapse into a single curve M=$H^{\mathrm{*}}$ $f_{\pm }$(H/$H^{\mathrm{*}}$). The scaling field $H^{\mathrm{*}}$ is inversely proportional to temperature and $f_{+}$ and $f_{\mathrm{-}}$ are the scaling functions for fields H above and below $H^{\mathrm{*}}$, respectively. The results are explained in terms of the Bean model. We argue that these features are common to all type-II superconductors.