Effect of electron-electron interactions on the conductivity of clean graphene

Minimal conductivity of a single undoped graphene layer is known to be of the order of the conductance quantum, independent of the electron velocity. We show that this universality does not survive electron-electron interaction which results in the non-trivial frequency dependence. We begin with analyzing the perturbation theory in the interaction parameter 'g' for the electron self-energy and observe the failure of the random-phase approximation. The optical conductivity is then derived from the quantum kinetic equation and the exact result is obtained in the limit when g << 1 << g ln\omega.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; final versio

Coherent macroscopic quantum tunneling in boson-fermion mixtures

We show that the cold atom systems of simultaneously trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC's) and quantum degenerate fermionic atoms provide promising laboratories for the study of macroscopic quantum tunneling. Our theoretical studies reveal that the spatial extent of a small trapped BEC immersed in a Fermi sea can tunnel and coherently oscillate between the values of the separated and mixed configurations (the phases of the phase separation transition of BEC-fermion systems). We evaluate the period, amplitude and dissipation rate for $^{23}$Na and $^{40}$K-atoms and we discuss the experimental prospects for observing this phenomenon.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Dielectric function, screening, and plasmons in 2D graphene

The dynamical dielectric function of two dimensional graphene at arbitrary wave vector $q$ and frequency $\omega$, $\epsilon(q,\omega)$, is calculated in the self-consistent field approximation. The results are used to find the dispersion of the plasmon mode and the electrostatic screening of the Coulomb interaction in 2D graphene layer within the random phase approximation. At long wavelengths ($q\to 0$) the plasmon dispersion shows the local classical behavior $\omega_{cl} = \omega_0 \sqrt{q}$, but the density dependence of the plasma frequency ($\omega_0 \propto n^{1/4}$) is different from the usual 2D electron system ($\omega_0 \propto n^{1/2}$). The wave vector dependent plasmon dispersion and the static screening function show very different behavior than the usual 2D case.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure