Spin decay and quantum parallelism

We study the time evolution of a single spin coupled inhomogeneously to a spin environment. Such a system is realized by a single electron spin bound in a semiconductor nanostructure and interacting with surrounding nuclear spins. We find striking dependencies on the type of the initial state of the nuclear spin system. Simple product states show a profoundly different behavior than randomly correlated states whose time evolution provides an illustrative example of quantum parallelism and entanglement in a decoherence phenomenon.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures included, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Quantum Force in Superconductor

Transitions between states with continuous (called as classical state) and discrete (called as quantum state) spectrum of permitted momentum values is considered. The persistent current can exist along the ring circumference in the quantum state in contrast to the classical state. Therefore the average momentum can changes at the considered transitions. In order to describe the reiterated switching into and out the quantum state an additional term is introduced in the classical Boltzmann transport equation. The force inducing the momentum change at the appearance of the persistent current is called as quantum force. It is shown that dc potential difference is induced on ring segments by the reiterated switching if the dissipation force is not homogeneous along the ring circumference. The closing of the superconducting state in the ring is considered as real example of the transition from classical to quantum stateComment: 4 pages, RevTex, 0 figure

Use of chlorine-36 and other geochemical data to test a groundwater flow model for Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Defining the spatial distribution and timing of subsurface fluid percolation is one of the most important factors determining long term performance of the potential high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The nonwelded interval of the Paintbrush Group (PTn), which overlies most of the potential repository, has high matrix porosities and permeabilities and is mostly unfractured. The Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) is a 8-km long, 7.6-m diameter, tunnel excavated beneath Yucca Mountain to the level of the potential repository horizon in order to provide access for characterization of these rocks. Several samples collected within the ESF have measured {sup 36}Cl/Cl ratios that record anthropogenic {sup 36}Cl (bomb-pulse {sup 36}Cl), indicating that at least some fraction of the water has traversed the overlying PTn in 40 years or less and that flow is not confined to the matrix of that unit. The presence of a fast path transmitting bomb-pulse {sup 36}Cl to depth appears to require the simultaneous presence of a structure (such as a fault) cutting the PTn and sufficiently high magnitude to surface infiltration to initiate and sustain at least a small component of fracture flow along the connected fracture path associated with the structure. The {sup 36}Cl data have been simulated using the flow and transport model FEHM in order to establish bounds on infiltration rates at the site and to provide greater confidence in the understanding of unsaturated flow processes at the site by showing consistency between the observed and simulated data sets. An analogous effort simulating the distribution of porewater chloride concentrations is providing an independent means for confirming the conceptual model

A possibility of persistent voltage observation in a system of asymmetric superconducting rings

A possibility to observe the persistent voltage in a superconducting ring of different widths of the arms is experimentally investigated. It was earlier found that switching of the arms between superconducting and normal states by ac current induces the dc voltage oscillation in magnetic field with a period corresponding to the flux quantum inside the ring. We use systems with a large number of asymmetric rings connected in series in order to investigate the possibility to observe this quantum phenomenon near the superconducting transition where thermal fluctuations switch ring segments without external influence and the persistent current is much smaller than in the superconducting state.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

A self-consistent treatment of non-equilibrium spin torques in magnetic multilayers

It is known that the transfer of spin angular momenta between current carriers and local moments occurs near the interface of magnetic layers when their moments are non-collinear. However, to determine the magnitude of the transfer, one should calculate the spin transport properties far beyond the interface regions. Based on the spin diffusion equation, we present a self-consistent approach to evaluate the spin torque for a number of layered structures. One of the salient features is that the longitudinal and transverse components of spin accumulations are inter-twined from one layer to the next, and thus, the spin torque could be significantly amplified with respect to treatments which concentrate solely on the transport at the interface due to the presence of the much longer longitudinal spin diffusion length. We conclude that bare spin currents do not properly estimate the spin angular momentum transferred between to the magnetic background; the spin transfer that occurs at interfaces should be self-consistently determined by embedding it in our globally diffuse transport calculations.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Electron transport through interacting quantum dots

We present a detailed theoretical investigation of the effect of Coulomb interactions on electron transport through quantum dots and double barrier structures connected to a voltage source via an arbitrary linear impedance. Combining real time path integral techniques with the scattering matrix approach we derive the effective action and evaluate the current-voltage characteristics of quantum dots at sufficiently large conductances. Our analysis reveals a reach variety of different regimes which we specify in details for the case of chaotic quantum dots. At sufficiently low energies the interaction correction to the current depends logarithmically on temperature and voltage. We identify two different logarithmic regimes with the crossover between them occurring at energies of order of the inverse dwell time of electrons in the dot. We also analyze the frequency-dependent shot noise in chaotic quantum dots and elucidate its direct relation to interaction effects in mesoscopic electron transport.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. References added, discussion slightly extende

Ballistic versus diffusive magnetoresistance of a magnetic point contact

The quasiclassical theory of a nanosize point contacts (PC) between two ferromagnets is developed. The maximum available magnetoresistance values in PC are calculated for ballistic versus diffusive transport through the area of a contact. In the ballistic regime the magnetoresistance in excess of few hundreds percents is obtained for the iron-group ferromagnets. The necessary conditions for realization of so large magnetoresistance in PC, and the experimental results by Garcia et al are discussedComment: 4 pages, TEX, 1 Figur

Distribution of fast hydrologic paths in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain

Development and testing of conceptual flow and transport models for hydrologic systems are strengthened when natural environmental tracers are incorporated into the process. One such tracer is chlorine-36 ({sup 36}Cl, half-life, 301,000 years), a radioactive isotope produced in the atmosphere and carried underground with percolating groundwater. High concentrations of this isotope were also added to meteoric water during a period of global fallout from atmospheric testing of nuclear devices, primarily in the 1950s. This bomb-pulse signal has been used to test for the presence of fast transport paths in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain and to provide the basis for a conceptual model for their distribution. Yucca Mountain is under investigation by the US Department of Energy as a potential site at which to host an underground high-level radioactive waste repository. Under wetter climatic conditions, fast-flow pathways will respond quickly to increases in infiltration and have the potential to become seeps in the tunnel drifts. The {sup 36}Cl data are also being used in numerical flow and transport models to establish lower bounds on infiltration rates, estimate ground water ages, and establish bounding values for hydrologic flow parameters governing fracture transport

Diamagnetic Persistent Currents and Spontaneous Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Mesoscopic Structures

Recently, new strongly interacting phases have been uncovered in mesoscopic systems with chaotic scattering at the boundaries by two of the present authors and R. Shankar. This analysis is reliable when the dimensionless conductance of the system is large, and is nonperturbative in both disorder and interactions. The new phases are the mesoscopic analogue of spontaneous distortions of the Fermi surface induced by interactions in bulk systems and can occur in any Fermi liquid channel with angular momentum $m$. Here we show that the phase with $m$ even has a diamagnetic persistent current (seen experimentally but mysterious theoretically), while that with $m$ odd can be driven through a transition which spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry by increasing the coupling to dissipative leads.Comment: 4 pages, three eps figure

Quasiclassical description of transport through superconducting contacts

We present a theoretical study of transport properties through superconducting contacts based on a new formulation of boundary conditions that mimics interfaces for the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity. These boundary conditions are based on a description of an interface in terms of a simple Hamiltonian. We show how this Hamiltonian description is incorporated into quasiclassical theory via a T-matrix equation by integrating out irrelevant energy scales right at the onset. The resulting boundary conditions reproduce results obtained by conventional quasiclassical boundary conditions, or by boundary conditions based on the scattering approach. This formalism is well suited for the analysis of magnetically active interfaces as well as for calculating time-dependent properties such as the current-voltage characteristics or as current fluctuations in junctions with arbitrary transmission and bias voltage. This approach is illustrated with the calculation of Josephson currents through a variety of superconducting junctions ranging from conventional to d-wave superconductors, and to the analysis of supercurrent through a ferromagnetic nanoparticle. The calculation of the current-voltage characteristics and of noise is applied to the case of a contact between two d-wave superconductors. In particular, we discuss the use of shot noise for the measurement of charge transferred in a multiple Andreev reflection in d-wave superconductors