9,842 research outputs found
Electron transport and current fluctuations in short coherent conductors
Employing a real time effective action formalism we analyze electron
transport and current fluctuations in comparatively short coherent conductors
in the presence of electron-electron interactions. We demonstrate that, while
Coulomb interaction tends to suppress electron transport, it may {\it strongly
enhance} shot noise in scatterers with highly transparent conducting channels.
This effect of excess noise is governed by the Coulomb gap observed in the
current-voltage characteristics of such scatterers. We also analyze the
frequency dispersion of higher current cumulants and emphasize a direct
relation between electron-electron interaction effects and current fluctuations
in disordered mesoscopic conductors.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
Comment on "Quantum Decoherence in Disordered Mesoscopic Systems"
In a recent paper, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1074 (1998), Golubev and Zaikin (GZ)
found that ``zero-point fluctuations of electrons'' contribute to the dephasing
rate extracted from the magnetoresistance. As a result, the dephasing rate
remains finite at zero temperature. GZ claimed that their results ``agree well
with the experimental data''. We point out that the GZ results are incompatible
with (i) conventional perturbation theory of the effects of interaction on weak
localization (WL), and (ii) with the available experimental data. More detailed
criticism of GZ findings can be found in cond-mat/9808053.Comment: 1 page, no figure
Low temperature properties of a quantum particle coupled to dissipative environments
We study the dynamics of a quantum particle coupled to dissipative (ohmic)
environments, such as an electron liquid. For some choices of couplings, the
properties of the particle can be described in terms of an effective mass. A
particular case is the three dimensional dirty electron liquid. In other
environments, like the one described by the Caldeira-Leggett model, the
effective mass diverges at low temperatures, and quantum effects are strongly
suppressed. For interactions within this class, arbitrarily weak potentials
lead to localized solutions. Particles bound to external potentials, or moving
in closed orbits, can show a first order transition, between strongly and
weakly localized regimes.Comment: 10 page
Detection of a new methanol maser line with the Kitt Peak 12-m telescope by remote observing from Moscow
A new methanol maser line 6(-1)-5(0)E at 133 GHz was detected with the 12-m
Kitt Peak radio telescope using remote observation mode from Moscow. Moderately
strong, narrow maser lines were found in DR21(OH), DR21-W, OMC-2, M8E, NGC2264,
L379, W33-Met. The masers have similar spectral features in other transitions
of methanol-E at 36 and 84 GHz, and in transitions of methanol-A at 44 and 95
GHz. All these are Class I transitions, and the new masers also belong to Class
I. In two other methanol transitions near 133 GHz, 5(-2)-6(-1)E and
6(2)-7(1)A+, only thermal emission was detected in some sources. Several other
sources with wider lines in the transition 6(-1)-5(0)E also may be masers,
since they do not show any emission at the two other methanol transitons near
133 GHz. These are NGC2071, S231, S255, GGD27, also known as Class I masers.
The ratio of intensities and line widths of the 133 GHz masers and 44 GHz
masers is consistent with the saturated maser model, in which the line
rebroadening with respect to unsaturated masers is suppressed by cross
relaxation due to elastic collisions.Comment: 4 pages, AASTeX text, uses aasms4.sty, 2 Postscript figures, to be
published in Ap
Semiclassical kinetic theory of electron spin relaxation in semiconductors
We develop a semiclassical kinetic theory for electron spin relaxation in
semiconductors. Our approach accounts for elastic as well as inelastic
scattering and treats Elliott-Yafet and motional-narrowing processes, such as
D'yakonov-Perel' and variable g-factor processes, on an equal footing. Focusing
on small spin polarizations and small momentum transfer scattering, we derive,
starting from the full quantum kinetic equations, a Fokker-Planck equation for
the electron spin polarization. We then construct, using a rigorous multiple
time scale approach, a Bloch equation for the macroscopic (-averaged)
spin polarization on the long time scale, where the spin polarization decays.
Spin-conserving energy relaxation and diffusion, which occur on a fast time
scale, after the initial spin polarization has been injected, are incorporated
and shown to give rise to a weight function which defines the energy averages
required for the calculation of the spin relaxation tensor in the Bloch
equation. Our approach provides an intuitive way to conceptualize the dynamics
of the spin polarization in terms of a ``test'' spin polarization which
scatters off ``field'' particles (electrons, impurities, phonons). To
illustrate our approach, we calculate for a quantum well the spin lifetime at
temperatures and densities where electron-electron and electron-impurity
scattering dominate. The spin lifetimes are non-monotonic functions of
temperature and density. Our results show that at electron densities and
temperatures, where the cross-over from the non-degenerate to the degenerate
regime occurs, spin lifetimes are particularly long.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, final versio
Decoherence of a particle in a ring
We consider a particle coupled to a dissipative environment and derive a
perturbative formula for the dephasing rate based on the purity of the reduced
probability matrix. We apply this formula to the problem of a particle on a
ring, that interacts with a dirty metal environment. At low but finite
temperatures we find a dephasing rate , and identify dephasing
lengths for large and for small rings. These findings shed light on recent
Monte Carlo data regarding the effective mass of the particle. At zero
temperature we find that spatial fluctuations suppress the possibility of
having a power law decay of coherence.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, proofed version to be published in EP
Dephasing of a particle in a dissipative environment
The motion of a particle in a ring of length L is influenced by a dirty metal
environment whose fluctuations are characterized by a short correlation
distance . We analyze the induced decoherence process, and compare
the results with those obtained in the opposing Caldeira-Leggett limit (). A proper definition of the dephasing factor that does not depend on a
vague semiclassical picture is employed. Some recent Monte-Carlo results about
the effect of finite temperatures on "mass renormalization" in this system are
illuminated.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, some textual improvements, to be published in
JP
Transport and noise properties of YBCO nanowire based nanoSQUIDs
The development of quantum limited magnetic flux sensors has recently gained a lot of attention for the possibility of detecting the magnetic moment of nanoscaled systems. Here, the ultimate goal is the observation of a single spin. Such sensors are of fundamental importance for applications, ranging from spintronics and spin-based quantum information processing, to fundamental studies of nano-magnetism in molecules and magnetic nanoclusters. A nano-scale superconducting quantum interference device (nanoSQUID) is indeed a promising candidate to reach this ambitious goal. Nanowires, fabricated of high critical temperature superconductors (HTS), have been shown to be a valid candidate for the realization of nanoSQUIDs. A crucial requirement to achieve the necessary flux sensitivity and spatial resolution, is a SQUID loop on the nanometer scale. Moreover, HTS nanowire-based SQUIDs in combination with large area pickup loops or flux transformers might become instrumental in magnetometer applications, such as magneto encephalography and low field magnetic resonance imaging, where low intrinsic magnetic field noise is required. In this review we will give a survey on the state of the art of YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin film nanowires and their implementation in low noise nanoSQUIDs and magnetometers
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