Resistance Jumps and Hysteresis in Ferromagnetic Wires

A phenomenological approach based on the principle of minimum heat generation is proposed for understanding experiments for metallic wires with a ferromagnetic domain wall controlled by a magnetic field. This approach elucidates the origin of negative jump and of hysteresis in the magnetoresistance experiments. To justify our approach, we computed the transmission probability of a single electron through a wire. Under certain conditions, the presence of a domain wall enhances the transmission through an impurity potential. Combining this result with the principle of minimum heat generation explains the counterintuitive negative resistance jump.