2,015 research outputs found
Spectrum of Electrons in Graphene as an Alternant Macromolecule and Its Specific Features in Quantum Conductance
An exact description of electrons based on the tight-binding model of
graphene as an alternant, plane macromolecule is presented. The model molecule
can contain an arbitrary number of benzene rings and has armchair- and
zigzag-shaped edges. This suggests an instructive alternative to the most
commonly used approach, where the reference is made to the honeycomb lattice
periodic in its A and B sublattices. Several advantages of the macromolecule
model are demonstrated. The newly derived analytical relations detail our
understanding of electron nature in achiral graphene ribbons and carbon
tubes and classify these structures as quantum wires.Comment: 13 pages 8 figures, revised in line with referee's comment
Kondo effect of an adsorbed cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecule: the role of quantum interference
A recent experimental study showed that, distorting a CoPc molecule adsorbed
on a Au(111) surface, a Kondo effect is induced with a temperature higher than
200 K. We examine a model in which an atom with strong Coulomb repulsion (Co)
is surrounded by four atoms on a square (molecule lobes), and two atoms above
and below it representing the apex of the STM tip and an atom on the gold
surface (all with a single, half-filled, atomic orbital). The Hamiltonian is
solved exactly for the isolated cluster, and, after connecting the leads (STM
tip and gold), the conductance is calculated by standard techniques. Quantum
interference prevents the existence of the Kondo effect when the orbitals on
the square do not interact (undistorted molecule); the Kondo resonance shows up
after switching on that interaction. The weight of the Kondo resonance is
controlled by the interplay of couplings to the STM tip and the gold surface,
and between the molecule lobes.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figura
Relations between Entropies Produced in Nondeterministic Thermodynamic Processes
Landauer's erasure principle is generalized to nondeterministic processes on
systems having an arbitrary number of non-symmetrical logical states. The
condition that the process is applied in the same way, irrespective of the
initial logical state, imposes some restrictions on the individual heat
exchanges associated with each possible transition. The complete set of such
restrictions are derived by a statistical analysis of the phase-space flow
induced by the process. Landauer's erasure principle can be derived from and is
a special case of these.Comment: 12 pages with one figure; a final major revision in presentation;
physical assumptions are clarified no
Experimental Verification of the Quantized Conductance of Photonic Crystal Waveguides
We report experiments that demonstrate the quantization of the conductance of
photonic crystal waveguides. To obtain a diffusive wave, we have added all the
transmitted channels for all the incident angles. The conductance steps have
equal height and a width of one half the wavelength used. Detailed numerical
results agree very well with the novel experimental results.Comment: Phys. Rev. B (submitted
Dynamic generation of orbital quasiparticle entanglement in mesoscopic conductors
We propose a scheme for dynamically creating orbitally entangled
electron-hole pairs through a time-dependent variation of the electrical
potential in a mesoscopic conductor. The time-dependent potential generates a
superposition of electron-hole pairs in two different orbital regions of the
conductor, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the quantum Hall regime. The
orbital entanglement is detected via violation of a Bell inequality, formulated
in terms of zero-frequency current noise. Adiabatic cycling of the potential,
both in the weak and strong amplitude limit, is considered.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; references update
On the validity of entropy production principles for linear electrical circuits
We discuss the validity of close-to-equilibrium entropy production principles
in the context of linear electrical circuits. Both the minimum and the maximum
entropy production principle are understood within dynamical fluctuation
theory. The starting point are Langevin equations obtained by combining
Kirchoff's laws with a Johnson-Nyquist noise at each dissipative element in the
circuit. The main observation is that the fluctuation functional for time
averages, that can be read off from the path-space action, is in first order
around equilibrium given by an entropy production rate. That allows to
understand beyond the schemes of irreversible thermodynamics (1) the validity
of the least dissipation, the minimum entropy production, and the maximum
entropy production principles close to equilibrium; (2) the role of the
observables' parity under time-reversal and, in particular, the origin of
Landauer's counterexample (1975) from the fact that the fluctuating observable
there is odd under time-reversal; (3) the critical remark of Jaynes (1980)
concerning the apparent inappropriateness of entropy production principles in
temperature-inhomogeneous circuits.Comment: 19 pages, 1 fi
Quantum heat transfer through an atomic wire
We studied the phononic heat transfer through an atomic dielectric wire with
both infinite and finite lengths by using a model Hamiltonian approach. At low
temperature under ballistic transport, the thermal conductance contributed by
each phonon branch of a uniform and harmonic chain cannot exceed the well-known
value which depends linearly on temperature but is material independent. We
predict that this ballistic thermal conductance will exhibit stepwise behavior
as a function of temperature. By performing numerical calculations on a more
realistic system, where a small atomic chain is placed between two reservoirs,
we also found resonance modes, which should also lead to the stepwise behavior
in the thermal conductance.Comment: 14 pages, 2 separate figure
Exact Master Equation and Quantum Decoherence of Two Coupled Harmonic Oscillators in a General Environment
In this paper we derive an exact master equation for two coupled quantum
harmonic oscillators interacting via bilinear coupling with a common
environment at arbitrary temperature made up of many harmonic oscillators with
a general spectral density function. We first show a simple derivation based on
the observation that the two-harmonic oscillator model can be effectively
mapped into that of a single harmonic oscillator in a general environment plus
a free harmonic oscillator. Since the exact one harmonic oscillator master
equation is available [Hu, Paz and Zhang, Phys. Rev. D \textbf{45}, 2843
(1992)], the exact master equation with all its coefficients for this two
harmonic oscillator model can be easily deduced from the known results of the
single harmonic oscillator case. In the second part we give an influence
functional treatment of this model and provide explicit expressions for the
evolutionary operator of the reduced density matrix which are useful for the
study of decoherence and disentanglement issues. We show three applications of
this master equation: on the decoherence and disentanglement of two harmonic
oscillators due to their interaction with a common environment under Markovian
approximation, and a derivation of the uncertainty principle at finite
temperature for a composite object, modeled by two interacting harmonic
oscillators. The exact master equation for two, and its generalization to ,
harmonic oscillators interacting with a general environment are expected to be
useful for the analysis of quantum coherence, entanglement, fluctuations and
dissipation of mesoscopic objects towards the construction of a theoretical
framework for macroscopic quantum phenomena.Comment: 35 pages, revtex, no figures, 2nd version, references added, to
appear in PR
Intensity distribution of scalar waves propagating in random media
Transmission of the scalar field through the random medium, represented by
the system of randomly distributed dielectric cylinders is calculated
numerically. System is mapped to the problem of electronic transport in
disordered two-dimensional systems. Universality of the statistical
distribution of transmission parameters is analyzed in the metallic and in the
localized regimes.In the metallic regime the universality of the transmission
statistics in all transparent channels is observed. In the band gaps, we
distinguish the disorder induced (Anderson) localization from the tunneling
through the system due to the gap in the density of states. We show also that
absorption causes rapid decrease of the mean conductance, but, contrary to the
localized regime, the conductance is self-averaged with a
Gaussian distribution
Correlated Nanoscopic Josephson Junctions
We discuss correlated lattice models with a time-dependent potential across a
barrier and show how to implement a Josephson-junction-like behavior. The
pairing occurs by a correlation effect enhanced by the symmetry of the system.
In order to produce the effect we need a mild distortion which causes avoided
crossings in the many-body spectrum. The Josephson-like response involves a
quasi-adiabatic evolution in the time-dependent field. Besides, we observe an
inverse-Josephson (Shapiro) current by applying an AC bias; a supercurrent in
the absence of electromotive force can also be excited. The qualitative
arguments are supported by explicit exact solutions in prototype 5-atom
clusters with on-site repulsion. These basic units are then combined in
ring-shaped systems, where one of the units sits at a higher potential and
works as a barrier. In this case the solution is found by mapping the
low-energy Hamiltonian into an effective anisotropic Heisenberg chain. Once
again, we present evidence for a superconducting flux quantization, i.e. a
Josephson-junction-like behavior suggesting the build-up of an effective order
parameter already in few-electron systems. Some general implications for the
quantum theory of transport are also briefly discussed, stressing the
nontrivial occurrence of asymptotic current oscillations for long times in the
presence of bound states.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, to appear in J. Phys. - Cond. Ma
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