36 research outputs found
Kondo effect in triple quantum dots
Numerical analysis of the simplest odd-numbered system of coupled quantum
dots reveals an interplay between magnetic ordering, charge fluctuations and
the tendency of itinerant electrons in the leads to screen magnetic moments.
The transition from local-moment to molecular-orbital behavior is visible in
the evolution of correlation functions as the inter-dot coupling is increased.
Resulting novel Kondo phases are presented in a phase diagram which can be
sampled by measuring the zero-bias conductance. We discuss the origin of the
even-odd effects by comparing with the double quantum dot.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Superconductivity in the Kondo lattice model
We study the Kondo lattice model with additional attractive interaction
between the conduction electrons within the dynamical mean-field theory using
the numerical renormalization group to solve the effective quantum impurity
problem. In addition to normal-state and magnetic phases we also allow for the
occurrence of a superconducting phase. In the normal phase we observe a very
sensitive dependence of the low-energy scale on the conduction-electron
interaction. We discuss the dependence of the superconducting transition on the
interplay between attractive interaction and Kondo exchange.Comment: Submitted to ICM 2009 Conference Proceeding
Low-energy properties of the Kondo lattice model
We study the zero-temperature properties of the Kondo lattice model within
the dynamical mean-field theory. As impurity solver we use the numerical
renormalization group. We present results for the paramagnetic case showing the
anticipated heavy Fermion physics, including direct evidence for the appearance
of a large Fermi surface for antiferromagnetic exchange interaction. Allowing
for the formation of a Neel state, we observe at finite doping an
antiferromagnetic metal below a critical exchange interaction, which shows a
crossover from a local-moment antiferromagnet with a small Fermi surface for
weak exchange coupling to a heavy-fermion antiferromagnet with a large Fermi
surface for increasing exchange. Including lattice degrees of freedom via an
additional Holstein term we observe a significant suppression of the Kondo
effect, leading to strongly reduced lowenergy scale. For too large
electron-phonon coupling we find a complete collaps of the heavy Fermi liquid
and the formation of polarons.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Relevance of quantum fluctuations in the Anderson-Kondo model
We study a localized spin coupled to an Anderson impurity to model the
situation found in higher transition metal or rare earth compounds like e.g.\
LaMnO or Gd monopnictides. We find that, even for large quantum numbers of
the localized spin, quantum fluctuations play an essential role for the case of
ferromagnetic coupling between the spin and the impurity levels. For
antiferromagnetic coupling, a description in terms of a classical spin is
appropriate
The embedding method beyond the single-channel case: Two-mode and Hubbard chains
We investigate the relationship between persistent currents in multi-channel
rings containing an embedded scatterer and the conductance through the same
scatterer attached to leads. The case of two uncoupled channels corresponds to
a Hubbard chain, for which the one-dimensional embedding method is readily
generalized. Various tests are carried out to validate this new procedure, and
the conductance of short one-dimensional Hubbard chains attached to perfect
leads is computed for different system sizes and interaction strengths. In the
case of two coupled channels the conductance can be obtained from a statistical
analysis of the persistent current or by reducing the multi-channel scattering
problem to several single-channel setups.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, submitted for publicatio
Electrical and thermoelectrical transport in Dirac fermions through a quantum dot
We investigate the conductance and thermopower of massless Dirac fermions
through a quantum dot using a pseudogap Anderson model in the non-crossing
approximation. When the Fermi level is at the Dirac point, the conductance has
a cusp where the thermopower changes its sign. When the Fermi level is away
from the Dirac point, the Kondo temperature illustrates a quantum impurity
transition between an asymmetric strong coupling Kondo state and a localized
moment state. The conductance shows a peak near this transition and reaches the
unitary limit at low temperatures. The magnitude of the thermopower exceeds
, and the thermoelectric figure of merit exceeds unity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Thermodynamic anomaly of the free damped quantum particle: the bath perspective
A possible definition of the specific heat of open quantum systems is based
on the reduced partition function of the system. For a free damped quantum
particle, it has been found that under certain conditions, this specific heat
can become negative at low temperatures. In contrast to the conventional
approaches focusing on the system degree of freedom, here we concentrate on the
changes induced in the environment when the system is coupled to it. Our
analysis is carried out for an Ohmic environment consisting of harmonic
oscillators and allows to identify the mechanism by which the specific heat
becomes negative. Furthermore, the formal condition for the occurrence of a
negative specific heat is given a physical interpretation in terms of the total
mass of bath oscillators and the system mass.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, final version after one round of refereein
Metallic, magnetic and molecular nanocontacts
Scanning tunnelling microscopy and break-junction experiments realize metallic and molecular nanocontacts that act as ideal one-dimensional channels between macroscopic electrodes. Emergent nanoscale phenomena typical of these systems encompass structural, mechanical, electronic, transport, and magnetic properties. This Review focuses on the theoretical explanation of some of these properties obtained with the help of first-principles methods. By tracing parallel theoretical and experimental developments from the discovery of nanowire formation and conductance quantization in gold nanowires to recent observations of emergent magnetism and Kondo correlations, we exemplify the main concepts and ingredients needed to bring together ab initio calculations and physical observations. It can be anticipated that diode, sensor, spin-valve and spin-filter functionalities relevant for spintronics and molecular electronics applications will benefit from the physical understanding thus obtained