Orbital Polarization in Itinerant Magnets

We propose a parameter-free scheme of calculation of the orbital polarization (OP) in metals, which starts with the strong-coupling limit for the screened Coulomb interactions in the random-phase approximation (RPA). For itinerant magnets, RPA can be further improved by restoring the spin polarization of the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA) through the local-field corrections. The OP is then computed in the static GW approach, which systematically improves the orbital magnetization and the magnetic anisotropy energies in transition-metal and actinide compounds.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Localized states due to expulsion of resonant impurity levels from the continuum in bilayer graphene

Anderson impurity problem is considered for a graphene bilayer subject to a gap-opening bias. In-gap localized states are produced even when the impurity level overlaps with the continuum of band electrons. The effect depends strongly on the polarity of the applied bias as long as hybridization with the impurity occurs within a single layer. For an impurity level inside the conduction band a positive bias creates the new localized in-gap state. A negative bias does not produce the same result and leads to a simple broadening of the impurity level. The implications for transport are discussed including a possibility of gate-controlled Kondo effect.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Low-Temperature Decoherence of Qubit Coupled to Background Charges

We have found an exact expression for the decoherence rate of a Josephson charge qubit coupled to fluctuating background charges. At low temperatures $T$ the decoherence rate ${\Gamma}$ is linear in $T$ while at high temperatures it saturates in agreement with a known classical solution which, however, reached at surprisingly high $T$. In contrast to the classical picture, impurity states spread in a wide interval of energies ($\gg T$) may essentially contribute to ${\Gamma}$.Comment: Both figures are changed to illustrate a more generic case of impurity states spread in wide interval of energies. Some changes have been made to the abstract and the introductio

Suppression of electron relaxation and dephasing rates in quantum dots caused by external magnetic fields

An external magnetic field has been applied in laterally coupled dots (QDs) and we have studied the QD properties related to charge decoherence. The significance of the applied magnetic field to the suppression of electron-phonon relaxation and dephasing rates has been explored. The coupled QDs have been studied by varing the magnetic field and the interdot distance as other system parameters. Our numerical results show that the electron scattering rates are strongly dependent on the applied external magnetic field and the details of the double QD configuration.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Mott Insulator to Superfluid transition in Bose-Bose mixtures in a two-dimensional lattice

We perform a numeric study (Worm algorithm Monte Carlo simulations) of ultracold two-component bosons in two-dimensional optical lattices. We study how the Mott insulator to superfluid transition is affected by the presence of a second superfluid bosonic species. We find that, at fixed interspecies interaction, the upper and lower boundaries of the Mott lobe are differently modified. The lower boundary is strongly renormalized even for relatively low filling factor of the second component and moderate (interspecies) interaction. The upper boundary, instead, is affected only for large enough filling of the second component. Whereas boundaries are renormalized we find evidence of polaron-like excitations. Our results are of interest for current experimental setups.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted as PRA Rapid Communicatio

Effects of electron coupling to intra- and inter-molecular vibrational modes on the transport properties of single crystal organic semiconductors

Electron coupling to intra- and inter-molecular vibrational modes is investigated in models appropriate to single crystal organic semiconductors, such as oligoacenes. Focus is on spectral and transport properties of these systems beyond perturbative approaches. The interplay between different couplings strongly affects the temperature band renormalization that is the result of a subtle equilibrium between opposite tendencies: band narrowing due to interaction with local modes, band widening due to electron coupling to non local modes. The model provides an accurate description of the mobility as function of temperature: indeed, it has the correct order of magnitude, at low temperatures, it scales as a power-law $T^{-\delta}$ with the exponent $\delta$ larger than unity, and, at high temperatures, shows an hopping behavior with a small activation energy.Comment: 3 Figures, Submitte

One Dimensional Gas of Bosons with Feshbach Resonant Interactions

We present a study of a gas of bosons confined in one dimension with Feshbach resonant interactions, at zero temperature. Unlike the gas of one dimensional bosons with non-resonant interactions, which is known to be equivalent to a system of interacting spinless fermions and can be described using the Luttinger liquid formalism, the resonant gas possesses novel features. Depending on its parameters, the gas can be in one of three possible regimes. In the simplest of those, it can still be described by the Luttinger liquid theory, but its Fermi momentum cannot be larger than a certain cutoff momentum dependent on the details of the interactions. In the other two regimes, it is equivalent to a Luttinger liquid at low density only. At higher densities its excitation spectrum develops a minimum, similar to the roton minimum in helium, at momenta where the excitations are in resonance with the Fermi sea. As the density of the gas is increased further, the minimum dips below the Fermi energy, thus making the ground state unstable. At this point the standard ground state gets replaced by a more complicated one, where not only the states with momentum below the Fermi points, but also the ones with momentum close to that minimum, get filled, and the excitation spectrum develops several branches. We are unable so far to study this new regime in detail due to the lack of the appropriate formalism.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figure

Multilayer Thermionic Refrigerator and Generator

A new method of refrigeration is proposed. Cooling is obtained by thermionic emission of electrons over periodic barriers in a multilayer geometry. These could be either Schottky barriers between metals and semiconductors or else barriers in a semiconductor superlattice. The same device is an efficient power generator. A complete theory is provided.Comment: 17 pages with 5 postscript figures, submitted to J. Appl. Phy

Orthogonality catastrophe and Kondo effect in graphene

Anderson's orthogonality catastrophe in graphene, at energies close to the Dirac point, is analyzed. It is shown that, in clean systems, the orthogonality catastrophe is suppressed, due to the vanishing density of states at the Dirac point. In the presence of preexisting localized states at the Dirac energy, the orthogonality catastrophe shows similar features to those found in normal metals with a finite density of states at the Fermi level. The implications for the Kondo effect induced by magnetic impurities, and for the Fermi edge singularities in tunneling processes are also discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure