Abstract
The current density and local magnetic field are calculated analytically for a strip of a type-II superconductor in perpendicular magnetic field Ha for constant critical current density. The penetrating flux front has vertical slope and the initial penetration depth, magnetization change and hysteretic losses are ∼ Ha2, ∼ Ha3 and ∼ Ha4, respectively. The analytical results differ from the widely used Bean model and explain numerous experiments in a natural way without the assumption of a surface barrier.