Abstract adiabatic charge pumping

This paper is devoted to the analysis of an abstract formula describing quantum adiabatic charge pumping in a general context. We consider closed systems characterized by a slowly varying time-dependent Hamiltonian depending on an external parameter $\alpha$. The current operator, defined as the derivative of the Hamiltonian with respect to $\alpha$, once integrated over some time interval, gives rise to a charge pumped through the system over that time span. We determine the first two leading terms in the adiabatic parameter of this pumped charge under the usual gap hypothesis. In particular, in case the Hamiltonian is time periodic and has discrete non-degenerate spectrum, the charge pumped over a period is given to leading order by the derivative with respect to $\alpha$ of the corresponding dynamical and geometric phases

Density functional theory with adaptive pair density

We propose a density functional to find the ground state energy and density of interacting particles, where both the density and the pair density can adjust in the presence of an inhomogeneous potential. As a proof of principle we formulate an a priori exact functional for the inhomogeneous Hubbard model. The functional has the same form as the Gutzwiller approximation but with an unknown kinetic energy reduction factor. An approximation to the functional based on the exact solution of the uniform problem leads to a substantial improvement over the local density approximation

Decoherence in adiabatic quantum evolution - application to Cooper pair pumping

One of the challenges of adiabatic control theory is the proper inclusion of the effects of dissipation. Here, we study the adiabatic dynamics of an open two-level quantum system deriving a generalized master equation to consistently account for the combined action of the driving and dissipation. We demonstrate that in the zero temperature limit the ground state dynamics is not affected by environment. As an example, we apply our theory to Cooper pair pumping which demonstrates the robustness of ground state adiabatic evolution.Comment: 7 pages, derivation of the master equation in the appendi

Interplay between destructive quantum interference and symmetry-breaking phenomena in graphene quantum junctions

We study the role of electronic spin and valley symmetry in the quantum interference (QI) patterns of the transmission function in graphene quantum junctions. In particular, we link it to the position of the destructive QI antiresonances. When the spin or valley symmetry is preserved, electrons with opposite spin or valley display the same interference pattern. On the other hand, when a symmetry is lifted, the antiresonances are split, with a consequent dramatic differentiation of the transport properties in the respective channel. We demonstrate rigorously this link in terms of the analytical structure of the electronic Green function, which follows from the symmetries of the microscopic model, and we confirm the result with numerical calculations for graphene nanoflakes. We argue that this is a generic and robust feature that can be exploited in different ways for the realization of nanoelectronic QI devices, generalizing the recent proposal of a QI-assisted spin-filtering effect [A. Valli et al., Nano Lett. 18, 2158 (2018)10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b00453]

Detecting Current Noise with a Josephson Junction in the Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling Regime

We discuss the use of a hysteretic Josephson junction to detect current fluctuations with frequencies below the plasma frequency of the junction. These adiabatic fluctuations are probed by switching measurements observing the noise-affected average rate of macroscopic quantum tunneling of the detector junction out of its zero-voltage state. In a proposed experimental scheme, frequencies of the noise are limited by an on-chip filtering circuit. The third cumulant of current fluctuations at the detector is related to an asymmetry of the switching rates.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures. To appear in Journal of Low Temperature Physics in the proceedings of the ULTI conference organized in Lammi, Finland (2006

Non-Abelian Thouless pumping in a photonic lattice

Non-Abelian gauge fields emerge naturally in the description of adiabatically evolving quantum systems having degenerate levels. Here we show that they also play a role in Thouless pumping in the presence of degenerate bands. To this end we consider a photonic Lieb lattice having two degenerate nondispersive modes and show that, when the lattice parameters are slowly modulated, the propagation of the photons bears the fingerprints of the underlying non-Abelian gauge structure. The nondispersive character of the bands enables a high degree of control on photon propagation. Our work paves the way to the generation and detection of non-Abelian gauge fields in photonic and optical lattices