Density and current response functions in strongly disordered electron systems: Diffusion, electrical conductivity and Einstein relation

We study consequences of gauge invariance and charge conservation of an electron gas in a strong random potential perturbed by a weak electromagnetic field. We use quantum equations of motion and Ward identities for one- and two-particle averaged Green functions to establish exact relations between density and current response functions. In particular we find precise conditions under which we can extract the current-current correlation function from the density-density correlation function and vice versa. We use these results in two different ways to extend validity of a formula associating the density response function with the electrical conductivity from semiclassical equilibrium to quantum nonequilibrium systems. Finally we introduce quantum diffusion via a response relating the current with the negative gradient of the charge density. With the aid of this response function we derive a quantum version of the Einstein relation and prove the existence of the diffusion pole in the zero-temperature electron-hole correlation function with the the long-range spatial fluctuations controlled by the static diffusion constant.Comment: 16 pages, REVTeX4, 6 EPS figure

Kinetic equation for strongly interacting dense Fermi systems

We review the non-relativistic Green's-function approach to the kinetic equations for Fermi liquids far from equilibrium. The emphasis is on the consistent treatment of the off-shell motion between collisions and on the non-instant and non-local picture of binary collisions. The resulting kinetic equation is of the Boltzmann type, and it represents an interpolation between the theory of transport in metals and the theory of moderately dense gases. The free motion of particles is renormalised by various mean field and mass corrections in the spirit of Landau's quasiparticles in metals. The collisions are non-local in the spirit of Enskog's theory of non-ideal gases. The collisions are moreover non-instant, a feature which is absent in the theory of gases, but which is shown to be important for dense Fermi systems. In spite of its formal complexity, the presented theory has a simple implementation within the Monte-Carlo simulation schemes. Applications in nuclear physics are given for heavy-ion reactions and the results are compared with the former theory and recent experimental data. The effect of the off-shell motion and the non-local and non-instant collisions on the dynamics of the system can be characterised in terms of thermodynamic functions such as the energy density or the pressure tensor. Non-equilibrium counterparts of these functions and the corresponding balance equations are derived and discussed from two points of view. Firstly, they are used to prove the conservation laws. Secondly, the role of individual microscopic mechanisms in fluxes of particles and momenta and in transformations of the energy is clarified.Comment: Boo

POVMs: a small but important step beyond standard quantum mechanics

It is the purpose of the present contribution to demonstrate that the generalization of the concept of a quantum mechanical observable from the Hermitian operator of standard quantum mechanics to a positive operator-valued measure is not a peripheral issue, allegedly to be understood in terms of a trivial nonideality of practical measurement procedures, but that this generalization touches the very core of quantum mechanics, viz. complementarity and violation of the Bell inequalities.Comment: Contribution to Proceedings of the Workshop `Beyond the quantum', Leiden, May/June 200

A time-dependent approach to electron pumping in open quantum systems

We propose a time-dependent approach to investigate the motion of electrons in quantum pump device configurations. The occupied one-particle states are propagated in real time and used to calculate the local electron density and current. An advantage of the present computational scheme is that the same computational effort is required to simulate monochromatic, polychromatic and nonperiodic drivings. Furthermore, initial state dependence and history effects are naturally accounted for. This approach can also be embedded in the framework of time-dependent density functional theory to include electron-electron interactions. In the special case of periodic drivings we combine the Floquet theory with nonequilibrium Green's functions and obtain a general expression for the pumped current in terms of inelastic transmission probabilities. This latter result is used for benchmarking our propagation scheme in the long-time limit. Finally, we discuss the limitations of Floquet-based schemes and suggest our approach as a possible way to go beyond them.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Quasiparticle transport equation with collision delay. II. Microscopic Theory

For a system of non-interacting electrons scattered by neutral impurities, we derive a modified Boltzmann equation that includes quasiparticle and virial corrections. We start from quasiclassical transport equation for non-equilibrium Green's functions and apply limit of small scattering rates. Resulting transport equation for quasiparticles has gradient corrections to scattering integrals. These gradient corrections are rearranged into a form characteristic for virial corrections