969 research outputs found
Mesoscopic effects in superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor junctions
We show that at zero temperature the supercurrent through the superconductor
- ferromagnetic metal - superconductor junctions does not decay exponentially
with the thickness of the junction. At large it has a random
sample-specific sign which can change with a change in temperature. In the case
of mesoscopic junctions the phase of the order parameter in the ground state is
a random sample-specific quantity. In the case of junctions of large area the
ground state phase difference is .Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Mesoscopic mechanism of adiabatic charge transport
We consider adiabatic charge transport through mesoscopic metallic samples
caused by a periodically changing external potential. We find that both the
amplitude and the sign of the charge transferred through a sample per period
are random sample specific quantities. The characteristic magnitude of the
charge is determined by the quantum interference.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Controlling the Sign of Magnetoconductance in Andreev Quantum Dots
We construct a theory of coherent transport through a ballistic quantum dot
coupled to a superconductor. We show that the leading-order quantum correction
to the two-terminal conductance of these Andreev quantum dots may change sign
depending on (i) the number of channels carried by the normal leads or (ii) the
magnetic flux threading the dot. In contrast, spin-orbit interaction may affect
the magnitude of the correction, but not always its sign. Experimental
signatures of the effect include a non-monotonic magnetoconductance curve and a
transition from an insulator-like to a metal-like temperature dependence of the
conductance. Our results are applicable to ballistic or disordered dots.Comment: Final version (4pages 3figs)- improved presentation and fig 3, and
updated reference
Magnetic fluctuations in 2D metals close to the Stoner instability
We consider the effect of potential disorder on magnetic properties of a
two-dimensional metallic system (with conductance ) when interaction in
the triplet channel is so strong that the system is close to the threshold of
the Stoner instability. We show, that under these conditions there is an
exponentially small probability for the system to form local spin droplets
which are local regions with non zero spin density. Using a non-local version
of the optimal fluctuation method we find analytically the probability
distribution and the typical spin of a local spin droplet (LSD). In particular,
we show that both the probability to form a LSD and its typical spin are
independent of the size of the droplet (within the exponential accuracy). The
LSDs manifest themselves in temperature dependence of observable quantities. We
show, that below certain cross-over temperature the paramagnetic susceptibility
acquires the Curie-like temperature dependence, while the dephasing time
(extracted from magneto-resistance measurements) saturates.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
The Discrete Frenet Frame, Inflection Point Solitons And Curve Visualization with Applications to Folded Proteins
We develop a transfer matrix formalism to visualize the framing of discrete
piecewise linear curves in three dimensional space. Our approach is based on
the concept of an intrinsically discrete curve, which enables us to more
effectively describe curves that in the limit where the length of line segments
vanishes approach fractal structures in lieu of continuous curves. We verify
that in the case of differentiable curves the continuum limit of our discrete
equation does reproduce the generalized Frenet equation. As an application we
consider folded proteins, their Hausdorff dimension is known to be fractal. We
explain how to employ the orientation of carbons of amino acids along
a protein backbone to introduce a preferred framing along the backbone. By
analyzing the experimentally resolved fold geometries in the Protein Data Bank
we observe that this framing relates intimately to the discrete
Frenet framing. We also explain how inflection points can be located in the
loops, and clarify their distinctive r\^ole in determining the loop structure
of foldel proteins.Comment: 14 pages 12 figure
Kinky Behavior in Josephson Junctions
We analyze nonperturbatively the behavior of a Josephson junction in which
two BCS superconductors are coupled through an Anderson impurity. We recover
earlier perturbative results which found that a phase difference
is preferred when the impurity is singly occupied and the on-site Coulomb
interaction is large. We find a novel intermediate phase in which one of
and is stable while the other is metastable, with the
energy having a kink somewhere in between. As a consequence of the
kink, the characteristics of the junction are modified at low voltages.Comment: 7 pages, 7 encapsulated PostScript figures; figure 3 correcte
Signature of the electron-electron interaction in the magnetic field dependence of nonlinear I-V characteristics in mesoscopic systems
We show that the nonlinear I-V characteristics of mesoscopic samples with
metallic conductivity should contain parts which are linear in the magnetic
field and quadratic in the electric field. These contributions to the current
are entirely due to the electron-electron interaction and consequently they are
proportional to the electron-electron interaction constant. We also note that
both the amplitude and the sign of the current exhibit random oscillations as a
function of temperature
Theory of quantum metal to superconductor transitions in highly conducting systems
We derive the theory of the quantum (zero temperature) superconductor to
metal transition in disordered materials when the resistance of the normal
metal near criticality is small compared to the quantum of resistivity. This
can occur most readily in situations in which ``Anderson's theorem'' does not
apply. We explicitly study the transition in superconductor-metal composites,
in an s-wave superconducting film in the presence of a magnetic field, and in a
low temperature disordered d-wave superconductor. Near the point of the
transition, the distribution of the superconducting order parameter is highly
inhomogeneous. To describe this situation we employ a procedure which is
similar to that introduced by Mott for description of the temperature
dependence of the variable range hopping conduction. As the system approaches
the point of the transition from the metal to the superconductor, the
conductivity of the system diverges, and the Wiedemann-Franz law is violated.
In the case of d-wave (or other exotic) superconductors we predict the
existence of (at least) two sequential transitions as a function of increasing
disorder: a d-wave to s-wave, and then an s-wave to metal transition
Magnetoresistance in semiconductor structures with hopping conductivity: effects of random potential and generalization for the case of acceptor states
We reconsider the theory of magnetoresistance in hopping semiconductors.
First, we have shown that the random potential of the background impurities
affects significantly preexponential factor of the tunneling amplitude which
becomes to be a short-range one in contrast to the long-range one for purely
Coulomb hopping centers. This factor to some extent suppresses the negative
interference magnetoresistance and can lead to its decrease with temperature
decrease which is in agreement with earlier experimental observations. We have
also extended the theoretical models of positive spin magnetoresistance, in
particular, related to a presence of doubly occupied states (corresponding to
the upper Hubbard band) to the case of acceptor states in 2D structures. We
have shown that this mechanism can dominate over classical wave-shrinkage
magnetoresistance at low temperatures. Our results are in semi-quantitative
agreement with experimental data.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure
Hydrodynamic description of transport in strongly correlated electron systems
We develop a hydrodynamic description of the resistivity and
magnetoresistance of an electron liquid in a smooth disorder potential. This
approach is valid when the electron-electron scattering length is sufficiently
short. In a broad range of temperatures, the dissipation is dominated by heat
fluxes in the electron fluid, and the resistivity is inversely proportional to
the thermal conductivity, . This is in striking contrast with the
Stokes flow, in which the resistance is independent of and
proportional to the fluid viscosity. We also identify a new hydrodynamic
mechanism of spin magnetoresistance
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