Time-Reversal Symmetry in Non-Hermitian Systems

For ordinary hermitian Hamiltonians, the states show the Kramers degeneracy when the system has a half-odd-integer spin and the time reversal operator obeys \Theta^2=-1, but no such a degeneracy exists when \Theta^2=+1. Here we point out that for non-hermitian systems, there exists a degeneracy similar to Kramers even when \Theta^2=+1. It is found that the new degeneracy follows from the mathematical structure of split-quaternion, instead of quaternion from which the Kramers degeneracy follows in the usual hermitian cases. Furthermore, we also show that particle/hole symmetry gives rise to a pair of states with opposite energies on the basis of the split quaternion in a class of non-hermitian Hamiltonians. As concrete examples, we examine in detail NxN Hamiltonians with N=2 and 4 which are non-hermitian generalizations of spin 1/2 Hamiltonian and quadrupole Hamiltonian of spin 3/2, respectively.Comment: 40 pages, 2 figures; typos fixed, references adde

Delocalization induced by low-frequency driving in disordered superlattices

We study the localization properties of disordered semiconductor superlattices driven by ac-fields. The localization length of the electrons in the superlattice increases when the frequency of the driving field is smaller than the miniband width. We show that there is an optimal value of the amplitude of the driving field for which the localization length of the system is maximal. This maximum localization length increases with the inverse of the driving frequency.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Superlattice Structures of Graphene based Nanoribbons

Based on first-principles calculations we predict that periodically repeated junctions of armchair graphene nanoribbons of different widths form superlattice structures. In these superlattice heterostructures the width and the energy gap are modulated in real space and specific states are confined in certain segments. Orientation of constituent nanoribbons, their width and length, the symmetry of the junction are the structural parameters to engineer electronic properties of these quantum structures. Not only the size modulation, but also composition modulation, such as periodically repeated, commensurate heterojunctions of BN and graphene honeycomb nanoribbons result in a multiple quantum well structure. We showed that these graphene based quantum structures can introduce novel concepts to design nanodevices.Comment: amended versio

Photoassisted sequential resonant tunneling through superlattices

We have analyzed theoretically the photoassisted tunneling current through a superlattice in the presence of an AC potential. For that purpose we have developed a new model to calculate the sequential resonant currrent trhough a superlattice based in the TRansfer Hamiltonian Method. The tunneling current presents new features due to new effective tunneling chanels coming from the photoside bands induced by the AC field. Our theoretical results are in good agreement with the available experimental evidence.Comment: Revtex 3.0 4 pages, 4 figures uuencoded compressed tar-fil

Bloch oscillations in Fermi gases

The possibility of Bloch oscillations for a degenerate and superfluid Fermi gas of atoms in an optical lattice is considered. For a one-component degenerate gas the oscillations are suppressed for high temperatures and band fillings. For a two-component gas the Landau criterion is used for specifying the regime where Bloch oscillations of the superfluid may be observed. We show how the amplitude of Bloch oscillations varies along the BCS-BEC crossover.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. explanations adde

High-field magnetoexcitons in unstrained GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum dots

The magnetic field dependence of the excitonic states in unstrained GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum dots is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The diamagnetic shift for the ground and the excited states are studied in magnetic fields of varying orientation. In the theoretical study, calculations are performed within the single band effective mass approximation, including band nonparabolicity, the full experimental three-dimensional dot shape and the electron-hole Coulomb interaction. These calculations are compared with the experimental results for both the ground and the excited states in fields up to 50 Tesla. Good agreement is found between theory and experiment

Phonon-induced optical superlattice

We demonstrate the formation of a dynamic optical superlattice through the modulation of a semiconductor microcavity by stimulated acoustic phonons. The high coherent phonon population produces a folded optical dispersion relation with well-defined energy gaps and renormalized energy levels, which are accessed using reflection and diffraction experiments

Effect of nonlinearity on the dynamics of a particle in dc field-induced systems

Dynamics of a particle in a perfect chain with one nonlinear impurity and in a perfect nonlinear chain under the action of dc field is studied numerically. The nonlinearity appears due to the coupling of the electronic motion to optical oscillators which are treated in adiabatic approximation. We study for both the low and high values of field strength. Three different range of nonlinearity is obtained where the dynamics is different. In low and intermediate range of nonlinearity, it reduces the localization. In fact in the intermediate range subdiffusive behavior in the perfect nonlinear chain is obtained for a long time. In all the cases a critical value of nonlinear strength exists where self-trapping transition takes place. This critical value depends on the system and the field strength. Beyond the self-trapping transition nonlinearity enhances the localization.Comment: 9 pages, Revtex, 6 ps figures include

Suppression of the D'yakonov-Perel' spin relaxation mechanism for all spin components in [111] zincblende quantum wells

We apply the D'yakonov-Perel' (DP) formalism to [111]-grown zincblende quantum wells (QWs) to compute the spin lifetimes of electrons in the two-dimensional electron gas. We account for both bulk and structural inversion asymmetry (Rashba) effects. We see that, under certain conditions, the spin splitting vanishes to first order in k, which effectively suppresses the DP spin relaxation mechanism for all spin components. We predict extended spin lifetimes as a result, giving rise to the possibility of enhanced spin storage. We also study [110]-grown QWs, where the effect of structural inversion asymmetry is to augment the spin relaxation rate of the component perpendicular to the well. We derive analytical expressions for the spin lifetime tensor and its proper axes, and see that they are dependent on the relative magnitude of the BIA- and SIA-induced splittings.Comment: v1: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRL v2: added 1 figure and supporting content, PRB forma

Terahertz Bloch oscillator with a modulated bias

Electrons performing Bloch oscillations in an energy band of a dc-biased superlattice in the presence of weak dissipation can potentially generate THz fields at room temperature. The realization of such Bloch oscillator is a long-standing problem due to the instability of a homogeneous electric field in conditions of negative differential conductivity. We establish the theoretical feasibility of stable THz gain in a long superlattice device in which the bias is quasistatically modulated by microwave fields. The modulation waveforms must have at least two harmonics in their spectra.Comment: 5 page