Two-level Hamiltonian of a superconducting quantum point contact

In a superconducting quantum point contact, dynamics of the superconducting phase is coupled to the transitions between the subgap states. We compute this coupling and derive the two-level Hamiltonian of the contact.Comment: REVTeX, 5 pages, reference adde

Controlled dephasing of Andreev states in superconducting quantum point-contacts

We have studied the relaxation and dephasing processes in a superconducting quantum point contact induced by the interaction with an electromagnetic environment. Based on a density matrix approach we obtain the rates for the dissipative dynamics as function of the transmission, the phase difference on the contact and the external impedance. Our calculation allows to determine the appropriate range of parameters for the observation of coherent oscillations in the current through the contact.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Physical Review

Decoherence in rf SQUID Qubits

We report measurements of coherence times of an rf SQUID qubit using pulsed microwaves and rapid flux pulses. The modified rf SQUID, described by an double-well potential, has independent, in situ, controls for the tilt and barrier height of the potential. The decay of coherent oscillations is dominated by the lifetime of the excited state and low frequency flux noise and is consistent with independent measurement of these quantities obtained by microwave spectroscopy, resonant tunneling between fluxoid wells and decay of the excited state. The oscillation's waveform is compared to analytical results obtained for finite decay rates and detuning and averaged over low frequency flux noise.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, submitted to the journal Quantum Information Processin

Entanglement of solid-state qubits by measurement

We show that two identical solid-state qubits can be made fully entangled (starting from completely mixed state) with probability 1/4 just measuring them by a detector, equally coupled to the qubits. This happens in the case of repeated strong (projective) measurements as well as in a more realistic case of weak continuous measurement. In the latter case the entangled state can be identified by a flat spectrum of the detector shot noise, while the non-entangled state (probability 3/4) leads to a spectral peak at the Rabi frequency with the maximum peak-to-pedestal ratio of 32/3.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Fast noise in the Landau-Zener theory

We study the influence of a fast noise on Landau-Zener transitions. We demonstrate that a fast colored noise much weaker than the conventional white noise can produce transitions itself or can change substantially the Landau-Zener transition probabilities. In the limit of fast colored or strong white noise we derive asymptotically exact formulae for transition probabilities and study the time evolution of a spin coupled to the noise and a sweeping magnetic field.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figure

Weak Charge Quantization on Superconducting Islands

We consider the Coulomb blockade on a superconductive quantum dot strongly coupled to a lead through a tunnelling barrier and/or normal diffusive metal. Andreev transport of the correlated pairs leads to quantum fluctuations of the charge on the dot. These fluctuations result in exponential renormalization of the effective charging energy. We employ two complimentary ways to approach the problem, leading to the coinciding results: the instanton and the functional RG treatment of the non-linear sigma model. We also derive the charging energy renormalization in terms of arbitrary transmission matrix of the multi-channel interface.Comment: 21 pages, 4 eps figures, RevTe

Supercurrents through gated superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor contacts: the Josephson-transistor

We analyze the transport through a narrow ballistic superconductor-normal- metal-superconductor Josephson contact with non-ideal transmission at the superconductor-normal-metal interfaces, e.g., due to insulating layers, effective mass steps, or band misfits (SIN interfaces). The electronic spectrum in the normal wire is determined through the combination of Andreev- and normal reflection at the SIN interfaces. Strong normal scattering at the SIN interfaces introduces electron- and hole-like resonances in the normal region which show up in the quasi-particle spectrum. These resonances have strong implications for the critical supercurrent $I_c$ which we find to be determined by the lowest quasi-particle level: tuning the potential $\mu_{x0}$ to the points where electron- and hole-like resonances cross, we find sharp peaks in $I_{\rm c}$, resulting in a transitor effect. We compare the performance of this Resonant Josephson-Transistor (RJT) with that of a Superconducting Single Electron Transistor (SSET).Comment: to appear in PRB, 11 pages, 9 figure

Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale

The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way. Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references, submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics

Search for a scalar or vector particle decaying into Zgamma in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We present a search for a narrow scalar or vector resonance decaying into Zgamma with a subsequent Z decay into a pair of electrons or muons. The data for this search were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron ppbar collider at a center of mass energy sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. Using 1.1 (1.0) fb-1 of data, we observe 49 (50) candidate events in the electron (muon) channel, in good agreement with the standard model prediction. From the combination of both channels, we derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction (sigma x B) into Zgamma. These limits range from 0.19 (0.20) pb for a scalar (vector) resonance mass of 600 GeV/c^2 to 2.5 (3.1) pb for a mass of 140 GeV/c^2.Comment: Published by Phys. Lett.