Chirality waves in two-dimensional magnets

We theoretically show that moderate interaction between electrons confined to move in a plane and localized magnetic moments leads to formation of a noncoplanar magnetic state. The state is similar to the skyrmion crystal recently observed in cubic systems with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction; however, it does not require spin-orbit interaction. The non-coplanar magnetism is accompanied by the ground-state electrical and spin currents, generated via the real-space Berry phase mechanism. We examine the stability of the state with respect to lattice discreteness effects and the magnitude of magnetic exchange interaction. The state can be realized in a number of transition metal and magnetic semiconductor systems

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

Relaxation and Zeno effect in qubit measurements

We consider a qubit interacting with its environment and continuously monitored by a detector represented by a point contact. Bloch-type equations describing the entire system of the qubit, the environment and the detector are derived. Using these equations we evaluate the detector current and its noise spectrum in terms of the decoherence and relaxation rates of the qubit. Simple expressions are obtained that show how these quantities can be accurately measured. We demonstrate that due to interaction with the environment, the measurement can never localize a qubit even for infinite decoherence rate.Comment: some clarifications added, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Efficiency of thin film photocells

We propose a new concept for the design of high-efficiency photocells based on ultra-thin (submicron) semiconductor films of controlled thickness. Using a microscopic model of a thin dielectric layer interacting with incident electromagnetic radiation we evaluate the efficiency of conversion of solar radiation into the electric power. We determine the optimal range of parameters which maximize the efficiency of such photovoltaic element.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Quantum computing with spin qubits in semiconductor structures

We survey recent work on designing and evaluating quantum computing implementations based on nuclear or bound-electron spins in semiconductor heterostructures at low temperatures and in high magnetic fields. General overview is followed by a summary of results of our theoretical calculations of decoherence time scales and spin-spin interactions. The latter were carried out for systems for which the two-dimensional electron gas provides the dominant carrier for spin dynamics via exchange of spin-excitons in the integer quantum Hall regime.Comment: 18 pages in PD