We study the nonequilibrium transport properties of fully (exactly) screened Kondo quantum dots subject to a finite bias voltage or a finite temperature. First, we calculate the Fermi-liquid coefficients of the conductance for models with arbitrary spin, i.e., its leading behavior for small bias voltages or temperatures. Second, we determine the low-temperature behavior of the static susceptibility from the exactly known Bethe ansatz results for the magnetization. Third, we study the crossover from strong to weak coupling in the spin-1/2 and the spin-1 models coupled to one or two screening channels, respectively. Using a real-time renormalization group method we calculate the static and dynamical spin-spin correlation functions for the spin-1/2 model as well as the linear and differential conductance and the static susceptibility for the spin-1 model. We define various Kondo scales and discuss their relations. We assess the validity of the renormalization-group treatment by comparing with known results for the temperature dependence of the linear conductance and static susceptibility as well as the Fermi-liquid behavior at low energies.
We study the nonequilibrium transport properties of fully (exactly) screened Kondo quantum dots subject to a finite bias voltage or a finite temperature. First, we calculate the Fermi-liquid coefficients of the conductance for models with arbitrary spin, i.e., its leading behavior for small bias voltages or temperatures. Second, we determine the low-temperature behavior of the static susceptibility from the exactly known Bethe ansatz results for the magnetization. Third, we study the crossover from strong to weak coupling in the spin-1/2 and the spin-1 models coupled to one or two screening channels, respectively. Using a real-time renormalization group method we calculate the static and dynamical spin-spin correlation functions for the spin-1/2 model as well as the linear and differential conductance and the static susceptibility for the spin-1 model. We define various Kondo scales and discuss their relations. We assess the validity of the renormalization-group treatment by comparing with known results for the temperature dependence of the linear conductance and static susceptibility as well as the Fermi-liquid behavior at low energies.
We analyze the nonequilibrium Kondo model at finite voltage and temperature by using a new formulation of the real-time renormalization group method with the Laplace variable as the flow parameter. We evaluate the energy-dependent spin relaxation rate and nonlinear conductance, and derive an approximate form for the universal line shape for the latter in the whole crossover regime from weak to strong coupling. The results are shown to agree well with exact methods in equilibrium, Fermi-liquid theory, weak-coupling expansions, and recent experiments. For the transient spin dynamics we find a universal exponential decay in the long-time limit along with a truncation-dependent pre-exponential power law. For multichannel models a pure power-law decay typical for non-Fermi-liquid behavior is predicted.
We generalize Nozi\`eres' Fermi-liquid theory for the low-energy behavior of the Kondo model to that of the single-impurity Anderson model. In addition to the electrons' phase shift at the Fermi energy, the low-energy Fermi-liquid theory is characterized by four Fermi-liquid parameters: the two given by Nozi\`eres that enter to first order in the excitation energy, and two additional ones that enter to second order and are needed away from particle-hole symmetry. We express all four parameters in terms of zero-temperature physical observables, namely the local charge and spin susceptibilities and their derivatives with respect to the local level position. We determine these in terms of the bare parameters of the Anderson model using Bethe ansatz and numerical renormalization group (NRG) calculations. Our low-energy Fermi-liquid theory applies throughout the crossover from the strong-coupling Kondo regime via the mixed-valence regime to the empty-orbital regime. From the Fermi-liquid theory, we determine the conductance through a quantum dot symmetrically coupled to two leads in the regime of small magnetic field, low temperature, and small bias voltage, and compute the coefficients of the $\ensuremath{\sim}{B}^{2}, \ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{2}$, and $\ensuremath{\sim}{V}^{2}$ terms exactly in terms of the Fermi-liquid parameters. The coefficients of T2,V2, and B2 are found to change sign during the Kondo to empty-orbital crossover. The crossover becomes universal in the limit that the local interaction is much larger than the level width. For completeness, we also compute the shot noise and discuss the resulting Fano factor.
In this report, we describe a recent development in a Fermi liquid theory for the Kondo effect in quantum dots under a finite bias voltage V. Applying the microscopic theory of Yamada and Yosida to a nonequilibrium steady state, we derive the Ward identities for the Keldysh Green's function, and determine the low-energy behavior of the differential conductance dI/dV exactly up to terms of order (eV)2 for the symmetric Anderson model. These results are deduced from the fact that the Green's function at the impurity site is a functional of a nonequilibrium distribution feff(ω), which at eV=0 coincides with the Fermi function. Furthermore, we provide an alternative description of the low-energy properties using a renormalized perturbation theory (RPT). In the nonequilibrium state the unperturbed part of the RPT is determined by the renormalized free quasiparticles, the distribution function of which is given by feff(ω). The residual interaction between the quasiparticles U, which is defined by the full vertex part at zero frequencies, is taken into account by an expansion in the power series of U. We also discuss the application of the RPT to a high-bias region beyond the Fermi-liquid regime.
Correlations are a central ingredient of modern condensed matter physics. With the advent of mesoscopic physics, it became possible to study correlated systems in non-equilibrium situations, which can be reached by e.g. driving a constant current through a quantum dot. A basic question is how correlations on the one hand and a non-equilibrium current on the other hand influence each other. Here this interplay is studied for the model system of a quantum dot in the Kondo regime using the real time renormalization group (RTRG) method. This method is a functional renormalization group (RG) method allowing a non-perturbative description of correlated systems in non-equilibrium. For the Kondo quantum dot the method is generalized to the case of double vertices. The RTRG method not only provides equations for the calculation of the renormalized coupling between the quantum dot spin and the reservoir electrons, but also equations for the calculation of the non-equilibrium decoherence rate and the non-equilibrium current.The RG equations are derived to second order. This approximation is expected to be valid as long as the quantum dot does not enter the strong coupling regime, i.e. the effective coupling strength between the quantum dot spin and the electrons does not become too large. It is found that this is the case if the bias voltage applied to the dot or the temperature is much larger than the Kondo temperature.It is shown that the RG equations lead to coupling functions depending on the energy of the incident and the scattered electron. This dependence is simplified to the dependence on the average energy of the incident and the scattered electron in the weak coupling regime.A closer inspection of the RG equations for the couplings shows that they not only contain terms leading to a logarithmic increase of the coupling strength but also subleading terms which are unimportant in the weak coupling regime. The RG equations are solved analytically for the case where the subleading terms are neglected. It is found that the coupling functions develop resonances at energies associated with the chemical potentials of the reservoirs. The height of these resonances is determined by the decoherence rate. However, for bias voltages much larger than the Kondo temperature these resonances do not affect the conductance for a two terminal setup, so the conductance does not provide a measure for the decoherence rate in this case. It is found that the conductance for the two terminal setup is a universal function of voltage/Kondo temperature and temperature/Kondo temperature in the weak coupling regime. This function is calculated analytically in the limits of vanishing voltage or temperature. Furthermore, it is found that for zero temperature the decoherence rate is proportional to the non-equilibrium current flowing through the system. This supports the physical picture that a non-equilibrium current is associated with a decoherence rate, which cuts the logarithmic scaling of the coupling strength.Finally, the RG equations are solved numerically for zero temperature including the subleading corrections found before. As expected, the subleading corrections have no impact on the decoherence rate and the conductance in the weak coupling regime. On the other hand, it is found that they lead to strong deviations from the results of the analytic leading logarithmic approximation if the bias voltage approaches the Kondo temperature. Generally, it is found that the subleading corrections lead to a saturation of the decoherence rate and the conductance to some finite value. However, for the numerical solution a numerical regularization parameter has to be introduced. It turns out that the saturation value found depends on its value, so no statements on the precise value of the decoherence rate and the current can be made in this regime.
Quantum phase transitions out of equilibrium are outstanding emergent subjects in condensed matter physics with great fundamental importance and challenges. We theoretically investigate here the nonequilibrium quantum phase transition in a generic nano-setup: the pseudogap Kondo model where a Kondo quantum dot couples to two---left (L) and right (R)---voltage-biased fermionic leads with power-law density of states (DOS) with respect to their Fermi levels ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{L/R}$, ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{c,L(R)}(\ensuremath{\omega})\ensuremath{\propto}{|\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{L(R)}|}^{r}$ with 0<r<1. In equilibrium (${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{L}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{R}=0$) and for 0<r<1/2, with increasing Kondo correlations this model exhibits a quantum phase transition from a unscreened local moment (LM) phase to the Kondo screened phase. At finite bias voltages and near criticality, we discover new nonequilibrium universal scaling behaviors in conductance, conduction electron T matrix, and local spin susceptibility via a controlled frequency-dependent renormalization group (RG) approach. The current-induced decoherence is key to understanding these distinct universal nonequilibrium quantum critical regimes. The relevance of our results to experiment is discussed.
Kondo physics first surfaced into the scientific world in 1934 via an unexpected observations made by a group of experimentalists, who measured the temperature-dependent resistance of gold wires in their laboratory at the University of Leiden. When decreasing the temperature below 4 Kelvin, they observed an unexpected increase of the resistance, which resulted in a resistance minimum that was not accounted for by the theoretical understanding at that time. Only 30 years later, Jun Kondo, a Japanese physicist from Tokyo, was the first to explain this curiosity, known as the Kondo effect, under the assistance of the Kondo model. Although his findings explained the increased resistance, a more fundamental problem was raised: the Kondo problem, an unphysical divergence of the resistance at very low temperatures. To solve this problem required the development of more advanced methods beyond the scope of pure perturbative methods, namely the use of renormalization group (RG) methods. More than twenty years after Kondo’s first steps towards the solution of the resistance minimum, the Kondo effect experienced a scientific revival due to the emergence of quantum dot systems in solid state physics. A quantum dot is a very localized and spatially restricted area within a metal, where only a few electrons fit in the area. The limited spatial spread constrains the possible positions for the electrons on the dot, and forces them into strong interactions with each other–they are strongly correlated. In quantum dot systems, not only the Kondo effect in equilibrium situations between the dot and its surrounding reservoirs can be studied, but also the effects of nonequilibrium situations, where a finite bias voltage drives a current through the quantum dot. However, the nonequilibrium Kondo effect is far less explored compared to its equilibrium counterpart and it requires the development of new methods beyond established equilibrium methods. To fill this gap, we use the recently developed real-time renormalization group (RTRG) method in the weak-coupling regime and its extension to the crossover regime, from weak coupling to strong coupling. Furthermore, different combinations between the number of electrons on the dot and the number of reservoirs of electrons in the surrounding metal allow for distinct physical situations, which can be studied within the framework of the RTRG method. We subsequently characterize the properties of the the overscreened, the underscreened, and the fully screened Kondo model by analyzing their physical observables and, in parts, their time evolution. The perturbative foundation of the RTRG method gives us the opportunity to gather new analytic insights for higher spin Kondo systems, on the one hand, and provides for a qualitative comparison of obtained results to various other methods and analytic results, on the other hand.