162 research outputs found
Frustration of decoherence in -shaped superconducting Josephson networks
We examine the possibility that pertinent impurities in a condensed matter
system may help in designing quantum devices with enhanced coherent behaviors.
For this purpose, we analyze a field theory model describing Y- shaped
superconducting Josephson networks. We show that a new finite coupling stable
infrared fixed point emerges in its phase diagram; we then explicitly evidence
that, when engineered to operate near by this new fixed point, Y-shaped
networks support two-level quantum systems, for which the entanglement with the
environment is frustrated. We briefly address the potential relevance of this
result for engineering finite-size superconducting devices with enhanced
quantum coherence. Our approach uses boundary conformal field theory since it
naturally allows for a field-theoretical treatment of the phase slips
(instantons), describing the quantum tunneling between degenerate levels.Comment: 11 pages, 5 .eps figures; several changes in the presentation and in
the figures, upgraded reference
Finite-Temperature Renormalization Group Analysis of Interaction Effects in 2D Lattices of Bose-Einstein Condensates
By using a renormalization group analysis, we study the effect of
interparticle interactions on the critical temperature at which the
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition occurs for Bose-Einstein
condensates loaded at finite temperature in a 2D optical lattice. We find that
the critical temperature decreases as the interaction energy decreases; when
U/J=36/\pi one has a vanishing critical temperature, signaling the possibility
of a quantum phase transition of BKT type
Pairing of Cooper pairs in a Josephson junction network containing an impurity
We show how to induce pairing of Cooper pairs (and, thus,
superconductivity) as a result of local embedding of a quantum impurity in a
Josephson network fabricable with conventional junctions. We find that a
boundary double Sine-Gordon model provides an accurate description of the dc
Josephson current patterns, as well as of the stable phases accessible to the
network. We point out that tunneling of pairs of Cooper pairs is robust against
quantum fluctuations, as a consequence of the time reversal invariance, arising
when the central region of the network is pierced by a dimensionless magnetic
flux . We find that, for , a stable attractive finite
coupling fixed point emerges and point out its relevance for engineering a two
level quantum system with enhanced coherence.Comment: 5 Pages, 5 Figures. Small modifications, ref.[11] added. To appear in
EP
Inhomogeneous Superconductivity in Comb-Shaped Josephson Junction Networks
We show that some of the Josephson couplings of junctions arranged to form an
inhomogeneous network undergo a non-perturbative renormalization provided that
the network's connectivity is pertinently chosen. As a result, the zero-voltage
Josephson critical currents turn out to be enhanced along directions
selected by the network's topology. This renormalization effect is possible
only on graphs whose adjacency matrix admits an hidden spectrum (i.e. a set of
localized states disappearing in the thermodynamic limit). We provide a
theoretical and experimental study of this effect by comparing the
superconducting behavior of a comb-shaped Josephson junction network and a
linear chain made with the same junctions: we show that the Josephson critical
currents of the junctions located on the comb's backbone are bigger than the
ones of the junctions located on the chain. Our theoretical analysis, based on
a discrete version of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation, leads to results which
are in good quantitative agreement with experimental results.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revte
Chiral Symmetry Breaking on the Lattice: a Study of the Strongly Coupled Lattice Schwinger Model
We revisit the strong coupling limit of the Schwinger model on the lattice
using staggered fermions and the hamiltonian approach to lattice gauge
theories. Although staggered fermions have no continuous chiral symmetry, they
posses a discrete axial invari ance which forbids fermion mass and which must
be broken in order for the lattice Schwinger model to exhibit the features of
the spectrum of the continuum theory. We show that this discrete symmetry is
indeed broken spontaneously in the strong coupling li mit. Expanding around a
gauge invariant ground state and carefully considering the normal ordering of
the charge operator, we derive an improved strong coupling expansion and
compute the masses of the low lying bosonic excitations as well as the chiral
co ndensate of the model. We find very good agreement between our lattice
calculations and known continuum values for these quantities already in the
fourth order of strong coupling perturbation theory. We also find the exact
ground state of the antiferromag netic Ising spin chain with long range Coulomb
interaction, which determines the nature of the ground state in the strong
coupling limit.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, no figure
Confinement-Deconfinement Transition in 3-Dimensional QED
We argue that, at finite temperature, parity invariant non-compact
electrodynamics with massive electrons in 2+1 dimensions can exist in both
confined and deconfined phases. We show that an order parameter for the
confinement-deconfinement phase transition is the Polyakov loop operator whose
average measures the free energy of a test charge that is not an integral
multiple of the electron charge. The effective field theory for the Polyakov
loop operator is a 2-dimensional Euclidean scalar field theory with a global
discrete symmetry , the additive group of the integers. We argue that the
realization of this symmetry governs confinement and that the
confinement-deconfinement phase transition is of
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type. We compute the effective action to
one-loop order and argue that when the electron mass is much greater than
the temperature and dimensional coupling , the effective field theory
is the Sine-Gordon model. In this limit, we estimate the critical temperature,
.Comment: 11 pages, latex, no figure
Mean Field Theory of Josephson Junction Arrays with Charge Frustration
Using the path integral approach, we provide an explicit derivation of the
equation for the phase boundary for quantum Josephson junction arrays with
offset charges and non-diagonal capacitance matrix. For the model with nearest
neighbor capacitance matrix and uniform offset charge , we determine,
in the low critical temperature expansion, the most relevant contributions to
the equation for the phase boundary. We explicitly construct the charge
distributions on the lattice corresponding to the lowest energies. We find a
reentrant behavior even with a short ranged interaction. A merit of the path
integral approach is that it allows to provide an elegant derivation of the
Ginzburg-Landau free energy for a general model with charge frustration and
non-diagonal capacitance matrix. The partition function factorizes as a product
of a topological term, depending only on a set of integers, and a
non-topological one, which is explicitly evaluated.Comment: LaTex, 24 pages, 8 figure
Topological Excitations in Compact Maxwell-Chern-Simons Theory
We construct a lattice model of compact (2+1)-dimensional Maxwell-Chern-
Simons theory, starting from its formulation in terms of gauge invariant
quantities proposed by Deser and Jackiw. We thereby identify the topological
excitations and their interactions. These consist of monopolo- antimonopole
pairs bounded by strings carrying both magnetic flux and electric charge. The
electric charge renders the Dirac strings observable and endows them with a
finite energy per unit length, which results in a linearly confining string
tension. Additionally, the strings interact via an imaginary, topological term
measuring the (self-) linking number of closed strings.Comment: harvmac, CERN-TH. 6906/93, DFUPG 80/9
The Strongly Coupled 't Hooft Model on the Lattice
We study the strong coupling limit of the one-flavor and two-flavor massless
't Hooft models, -color , on a lattice. We use
staggered fermions and the Hamiltonian approach to lattice gauge theories. We
show that the one-flavor model is effectively described by the
antiferromagnetic Ising model, whose ground state is the vacuum of the gauge
model in the infinite coupling limit; expanding around this ground state we
derive a strong coupling expansion and compute the lowest lying hadron masses
as well as the chiral condensate of the gauge theory. Our lattice computation
well reproduces the results of the continuum theory. Baryons are massless in
the infinite coupling limit; they acquire a mass already at the second order in
the strong coupling expansion in agreement with the Witten argument that
baryons are the solitons.
The spectrum and chiral condensate of the two-flavor model are effectively
described in terms of observables of the quantum antiferromagnetic Heisenberg
model. We explicitly write the lowest lying hadron masses and chiral condensate
in terms of spin-spin correlators on the ground state of the spin model. We
show that the planar limit () of the gauge
model corresponds to the large spin limit () of the
antiferromagnet and compute the hadron mass spectrum in this limit finding
that, also in this model, the pattern of chiral symmetry breaking of the
continuum theory is well reproduced on the lattice.Comment: LaTex, 25 pages, no figure
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