Quantum percolation in granular metals

Theory of quantum corrections to conductivity of granular metal films is developed for the realistic case of large randomly distributed tunnel conductances. Quantum fluctuations of intergrain voltages (at energies E much below bare charging energy scale E_C) suppress the mean conductance \bar{g}(E) much stronger than its standard deviation \sigma(E). At sufficiently low energies E_* any distribution becomes broad, with \sigma(E_*) ~ \bar{g}(E_*), leading to strong local fluctuations of the tunneling density of states. Percolative nature of metal-insulator transition is established by combination of analytic and numerical analysis of the matrix renormalization group equations.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, REVTeX

Interference induced metallic-like behavior of a two-dimensional hole gas in asymmetric GaAs/Inx_{x}Ga1−x_{1-x}As/GaAs quantum well

The temperature and magnetic field dependences of the conductivity of the heterostructures with asymmetric In$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$As quantum well are studied. It is shown that the metallic-like temperature dependence of the conductivity observed in the structures investigated is quantitatively understandable within the whole temperature range, $T=0.4-20$ K. It is caused by the interference quantum correction at fast spin relaxation for 0.4 K$< T < 1.5$ K. At higher temperatures, 1.5 K$<T<4$ K, it is due to the interaction quantum correction. Finally, at $T>4-6$ K, the metallic-like behavior is determined by the phonon scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Energy absorption in time-dependent unitary random matrix ensembles: dynamic vs Anderson localization

We consider energy absorption in an externally driven complex system of noninteracting fermions with the chaotic underlying dynamics described by the unitary random matrices. In the absence of quantum interference the energy absorption rate W(t) can be calculated with the help of the linear-response Kubo formula. We calculate the leading two-loop interference correction to the semiclassical absorption rate for an arbitrary time dependence of the external perturbation. Based on the results for periodic perturbations, we make a conjecture that the dynamics of the periodically-driven random matrices can be mapped onto the one-dimensional Anderson model. We predict that in the regime of strong dynamic localization W(t) ln(t)/t^2 rather than decays exponentially.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Dormant non-culturable Mycobacterium tuberculosis retains stable low-abundant mRNA

BACKGROUND: Dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli are believed to play an important role in latent tuberculosis infection. Previously, we have demonstrated that cultivation of M. tuberculosis in K(+)-deficient medium resulted in generation of dormant cells. These bacilli were non-culturable on solid media (a key feature of dormant M. tuberculosis in vivo) and characterized by low metabolism and tolerance to anti-tuberculosis drugs. The dormant bacteria demonstrated a high potential to reactivation after K(+) reintroduction even after prolonged persistence under rifampicin. In this work, we studied the transcriptome and stability of transcripts in persisting dormant bacilli under arrest of mRNA de novo synthesis. RESULTS: RNA-seq-based analysis of the dormant non-culturable population obtained under rifampicin exposure revealed a 30–50-fold decrease of the total mRNA level, indicating global transcriptional repression. However, the analysis of persisting transcripts displayed a cohort of mRNA molecules coding for biosynthetic enzymes, proteins involved in adaptation and repair processes, detoxification, and control of transcription initiation. This ‘dormant transcriptome’ demonstrated considerable stability during M. tuberculosis persistence and mRNA de novo synthesis arrest. On the contrary, several small non-coding RNAs showed increased abundance on dormancy. Interestingly, M. tuberculosis entry into dormancy was accompanied by the cleavage of 23S ribosomal RNA at a specific point located outside the ribosome catalytic center. CONCLUSIONS: Dormant non-culturable M. tuberculosis bacilli are characterized by a global transcriptional repression. At the same time, the dormant bacilli retain low-abundant mRNAs, which are considerably stable during in vitro persistence, reflecting their readiness for translation upon early resuscitation steps. Increased abundance of non-coding RNAs on dormancy may indicate their role in the entry into and maintenance of M. tuberculosis dormant non-culturable state. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2197-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Level statistics inside the core of a superconductive vortex

Microscopic theory of the type of Efetov's supermatrix sigma-model is constructed for the low-lying electron states in a mixed superconductive-normal system with disorder. The developed technique is used for the study of the localized states in the core of a vortex in a moderately clean superconductor (1/\Delta << \tau << 1/\omega_0 = E_F/\Delta^2). At sufficiently low energies E << \omega_{Th}, the energy level statistics is described by the "zero-dimensional" limit of this supermatrix theory, with the effective "Thouless energy" \omega_{Th} \sim (\omega_0/\tau)^{1/2}. Within this energy range the result for the density of states is equivalent to that obtained within Altland-Zirnbauer random matrix model of class C. Nonzero modes of the sigma-model increase the mean interlevel distance \omega_0 by the relative amount of the order of [2\ln(1/\omega_0\tau)]^{-1}.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX. One error is corrected, also two references are added. Submitted to JETP Letter

Maximum Metallic Conductivity in Si-MOS Structures

We found that the conductivity of the two-dimensional electron system in Si-MOS structures is limited to a maximum value, G_{max}, as either density increases or temperature decreases. This value G_{max} is weakly disorder dependent and ranging from 100 to 140 e^2/h for samples whose mobilities differ by a factor of 4.Comment: 3 pages, 3 ps-figs, RevTex, new dat

Weak Charge Quantization on Superconducting Islands

We consider the Coulomb blockade on a superconductive quantum dot strongly coupled to a lead through a tunnelling barrier and/or normal diffusive metal. Andreev transport of the correlated pairs leads to quantum fluctuations of the charge on the dot. These fluctuations result in exponential renormalization of the effective charging energy. We employ two complimentary ways to approach the problem, leading to the coinciding results: the instanton and the functional RG treatment of the non-linear sigma model. We also derive the charging energy renormalization in terms of arbitrary transmission matrix of the multi-channel interface.Comment: 21 pages, 4 eps figures, RevTe

Local correlations of different eigenfunctions in a disordered wire

We calculate the correlator of the local density of states in quasi-one-dimensional disordered wires in a magnetic field, assuming that |r_1-r_2| is much smaller than the localization length. This amounts to finding the zero mode of the transfer-matrix Hamiltonian for the supersymmetric sigma-model, which is done exactly by the mapping to the three-dimensional Coulomb problem. Both the regimes of level repulsion and level attraction are obtained, depending on |r_1-r_2|. We demonstrate that the correlations of different eigenfunctions in the quasi-one-dimensional and strictly one-dimensional cases are dissimilar.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. v2: an error in treating the spatial dependence of correlations is correcte

Quantum and Thermal Depinning of a String from a Linear Defect

The problem of a massive elastic string depinning from a linear defect under the action of a small driving force is considered. To exponential accuracy the decay rate is calculated with the help of the instanton method; then, fluctuations of the quasiclassical solution are taken into account to determine the preexponential factor. The decay rate exhibits a kind of first order transition from quantum tunneling to thermal activation with vanishing crossover region. The model may be applied to describe nucleation in 2-dimensional first order quantum phase transitions.Comment: Revtex. 11 pages + 4 PS figures. Accepted for publication in PR

Anomalous flux-flow dynamics in layered type-II superconductors at low temperatures

Low-temperature dissipation due to vortex motion in strongly anisotropic type-II superconductors with a moderate disorder ($\Delta^2/E_F \ll \hbar/\tau \ll \Delta$) is shown to be determined by the Zener-type transitions between the localized electronic states in the vortex core. Statistics of these levels is described by the random matrix ensemble of the class C defined recently by Atland and Zirnbauer [cond-mat/9602137], so the vortex motion leads naturally to the new example of a parametric statistics of energy levels. The flux-flow conductivity $\sigma_{xx}$ is a bit lower than the quasiclassical one and {\it grows} slowly with the increase of the electric field.Comment: 4 pages, Revte