Endstates in multichannel spinless p-wave superconducting wires

Multimode spinless p-wave superconducting wires with a width W much smaller than the superconducting coherence length \xi are known to have multiple low-energy subgap states localized near the wire's ends. Here we compare the typical energies of such endstates for various terminations of the wire: A superconducting wire coupled to a normal-metal stub, a weakly disordered superconductor wire and a wire with smooth confinement. Depending on the termination, we find that the energies of the subgap states can be higher or lower than for the case of a rectangular wire with hard-wall boundaries.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Pumped current and voltage for an adiabatic quantum pump

We consider adiabatic pumping of electrons through a quantum dot. There are two ways to operate the pump: to create a dc current ${\bar I}$ or to create a dc voltage ${\bar V}$. We demonstrate that, for very slow pumping, ${\bar I}$ and ${\bar V}$ are not simply related via the dc conductance $G$ as $\bar I = \bar V G$. For the case of a chaotic quantum dot, we consider the statistical distribution of ${\bar V} G - {\bar I}$. Results are presented for the limiting cases of a dot with single channel and with multichannel point contacts.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Nonequilibrium theory of Coulomb blockade in open quantum dots

We develop a non-equilibrium theory to describe weak Coulomb blockade effects in open quantum dots. Working within the bosonized description of electrons in the point contacts, we expose deficiencies in earlier applications of this method, and address them using a 1/N expansion in the inverse number of channels. At leading order this yields the self-consistent potential for the charging interaction. Coulomb blockade effects arise as quantum corrections to transport at the next order. Our approach unifies the phase functional and bosonization approaches to the problem, as well as providing a simple picture for the conductance corrections in terms of renormalization of the dot's elastic scattering matrix, which is obtained also by elementary perturbation theory. For the case of ideal contacts, a symmetry argument immediately allows us to conclude that interactions give no signature in the averaged conductance. Non-equilibrium applications to the pumped current in a quantum pump are worked out in detail.Comment: Published versio

Extrasolar planetary dynamics with a generalized planar Laplace-Lagrange secular theory

The dynamical evolution of nearly half of the known extrasolar planets in multiple-planet systems may be dominated by secular perturbations. The commonly high eccentricities of the planetary orbits calls into question the utility of the traditional Laplace-Lagrange (LL) secular theory in analyses of the motion. We analytically generalize this theory to fourth-order in the eccentricities, compare the result with the second-order theory and octupole-level theory, and apply these theories to the likely secularly-dominated HD 12661, HD 168443, HD 38529 and Ups And multi-planet systems. The fourth-order scheme yields a multiply-branched criterion for maintaining apsidal libration, and implies that the apsidal rate of a small body is a function of its initial eccentricity, dependencies which are absent from the traditional theory. Numerical results indicate that the primary difference the second and fourth-order theories reveal is an alteration in secular periodicities, and to a smaller extent amplitudes of the planetary eccentricity variation. Comparison with numerical integrations indicates that the improvement afforded by the fourth-order theory over the second-order theory sometimes dwarfs the improvement needed to reproduce the actual dynamical evolution. We conclude that LL secular theory, to any order, generally represents a poor barometer for predicting secular dynamics in extrasolar planetary systems, but does embody a useful tool for extracting an accurate long-term dynamical description of systems with small bodies and/or near-circular orbits.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap

Photonic excess noise and wave localization

This is a theory for the effect of localization on the super-Poissonian noise of radiation propagating through an absorbing disordered waveguide. Localization suppresses both the mean photon current I and the noise power P, but the Fano factor P/I is found to remain unaffected. For strong absorption the Fano factor has the universal value 1+3f/2 (with f the Bose-Einstein function), regardless of whether the waveguide is long or short compared to the localization length.Comment: 3 pages including 3 figure

Spontaneous Emission in Chaotic Cavities

The spontaneous emission rate \Gamma of a two-level atom inside a chaotic cavity fluctuates strongly from one point to another because of fluctuations in the local density of modes. For a cavity with perfectly conducting walls and an opening containing N wavechannels, the distribution of \Gamma is given by P(\Gamma) \propto \Gamma^{N/2-1}(\Gamma+\Gamma_0)^{-N-1}, where \Gamma_0 is the free-space rate. For small N the most probable value of \Gamma is much smaller than the mean value \Gamma_0.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 1 figur

Weak Localization Coexisting with a Magnetic Field in a Normal-Metal--Superconductor Microbridge

A random-matrix theory is presented which shows that breaking time-reversal symmetry by itself does {\em not} suppress the weak-localization correction to the conductance of a disordered metal wire attached to a superconductor. Suppression of weak localization requires applying a magnetic field as well as raising the voltage, to break both time-reversal symmetry and electron-hole degeneracy. A magnetic-field dependent contact resistance obscured this anomaly in previous numerical simulations.Comment: 8 pages, REVTeX-3.0, 1 figur

Weak localization and conductance fluctuations of a chaotic quantum dot with tunable spin-orbit coupling

In a two-dimensional quantum dot in a GaAs heterostructure, the spin-orbit scattering rate is substantially reduced below the rate in a bulk two-dimensional electron gas [B.I. Halperin et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2106 (2001)]. Such a reduction can be undone if the spin-orbit coupling parameters acquire a spatial dependence, which can be achieved, e.g., by a metal gate covering only a part of the quantum dot. We calculate the effect of such spatially non-uniform spin-orbit scattering on the weak localization correction and the universal conductance fluctuations of a chaotic quantum dot coupled to electron reservoirs by ballistic point contacts, in the presence of a magnetic field parallel to the plane of the quantum dot.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX; 2 figures. Substantial revision