We explore the effects of asymmetry of hopping parameters between double parallel quantum dots and the leads on the conductance and a possibility of local magnetic moment formation in this system using functional renormalization group approach with the counterterm. We demonstrate a possibility of a quantum phase transition to a local moment regime [so-called singular Fermi liquid (SFL) state] for various types of hopping asymmetries and discuss respective gate voltage dependencies of the conductance. We show that, depending on the type of the asymmetry, the system can demonstrate either a first-order quantum phase transition to an SFL state, accompanied by a discontinuous change of the conductance, similarly to the symmetric case, or the second-order quantum phase transition, in which the conductance is continuous and exhibits Fano-type asymmetric resonance near the transition point. A semianalytical explanation of these different types of conductance behavior is presented.
We explore the effects of asymmetry of hopping parameters between double parallel quantum dots and the leads on the conductance and a possibility of local magnetic moment formation in this system using functional renormalization group approach with the counterterm. We demonstrate a possibility of a quantum phase transition to a local moment regime [so-called singular Fermi liquid (SFL) state] for various types of hopping asymmetries and discuss respective gate voltage dependencies of the conductance. We show that, depending on the type of the asymmetry, the system can demonstrate either a first-order quantum phase transition to an SFL state, accompanied by a discontinuous change of the conductance, similarly to the symmetric case, or the second-order quantum phase transition, in which the conductance is continuous and exhibits Fano-type asymmetric resonance near the transition point. A semianalytical explanation of these different types of conductance behavior is presented.
We propose a version of the functional renormalization-group (fRG) approach, which is, due to including Litim-type cutoff and switching off (or reducing) the magnetic field during fRG flow, capable of describing a singular Fermi-liquid (SFL) phase, formed due to the presence of local moments in quantum dot structures. The proposed scheme allows one to describe the first-order quantum phase transition from the ``singular'' to the ``regular'' paramagnetic phase with applied gate voltage to parallel quantum dots, symmetrically coupled to leads, and shows sizable spin splitting of electronic states in the SFL phase in the limit of vanishing magnetic field $H\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$; the calculated conductance shows good agreement with the results of the numerical renormalization group. Using the proposed fRG approach with the counterterm, we also show that for asymmetric coupling of the leads to the dots the SFL behavior similar to that for the symmetric case persists, but with occupation numbers, effective energy levels, and conductance changing continuously through the quantum phase transition into the SFL phase.
We study the effects of electronic interactions on transport through parallel quantum dots connected symmetrically to leads, focusing on the case of an intermediate value of the on-site Coulomb interaction at each quantum dot. We apply both the mean-field (MF) approximation and the functional renormalization group (fRG) approach with using the Litim regularization scheme in frequency space to treat the effect of interaction and calculate the energy levels, the magnetization, the square of local spin as well as the linear conductance as a function of gate voltage. Already for intermediate values of the Coulomb interaction, the system exhibits a quantum phase transition from the parallel aligned (high spin state) to the paramagnetic (low spin) regime. This phase transition is accompanied by the appearance of the step discontinuities in the conductance, which can be observed in the experiment.
The numerical renormalization group is employed to study a double quantum (DQD) dot system consisting of two equivalent single-level dots, each coupled to its own lead and with a mutual capacitive coupling embodied in an interdot interaction U', in addition to the intradot Coulomb interaction U. We focus on the regime with two electrons on the DQD, and the evolution of the system on increasing U'/U. The spin-Kondo effect arising for U'=0 (SU(2) x SU(2)) is found to persist robustly with increasing U'/U, before a rapid but continuous crossover to (a) the SU(4) point U'=U where charge and spin degrees of freedom are entangled and the Kondo scale strongly enhanced; and then (b) a charge-Kondo state, in which a charge-pseudospin is quenched on coupling to the leads/conduction channels. A quantum phase transition of Kosterlitz-Thouless type then occurs from this Fermi liquid, strong coupling (SC) phase, to a broken symmetry, non-Fermi liquid charge ordered (CO) phase at a critical U'_c. Our emphasis in this paper is on the structure, stability and flows between the underlying RG fixed points, on the overall phase diagram in the (U,U')-plane and evolution of the characteristic low-energy Kondo scale inherent to the SC phase; and on static physical properties such as spin- and charge-susceptibilities (staggered and uniform), including universality and scaling behaviour in the strongly correlated regime. Some exact results for associated Wilson ratios are also obtained.
Abstract. The numerical renormalization group is employed to study a double quantum (DQD) dot system consisting of two equivalent single-level dots, each coupled to its own lead and with a mutual capacitive coupling embodied in an interdot interaction U ′, in addition to the intradot Coulomb interaction U. We focus on the regime with two electrons on the DQD, and the evolution of the system on increasing U ′/U. The spin-Kondo effect arising for U ′ = 0 (SU(2) × SU(2)) is found to persist robustly with increasing U ′/U, before a rapid but continuous crossover to (a) the SU(4) point U ′ = U where charge and spin degrees of freedom are entangled and the Kondo scale strongly enhanced; and then (b) a charge-Kondo state, in which a charge-pseudospin is quenched on coupling to the leads/conduction channels. A quantum phase transition of Kosterlitz-Thouless type then occurs from this Fermi liquid, strong coupling (SC) phase, to a broken symmetry, non-Fermi liquid charge ordered (CO) phase at a critical U ′ c. Our emphasis in this paper is on the structure, stability and flows between the underlying RG fixed points, on the overall phase diagram in the (U, U ′)-plane and evolution of the characteristic low-energy Kondo scale inherent to the SC phase; and on static physical properties such as spin- and charge-susceptibilities (staggered and uniform), including universality and scaling behaviour in the strongly correlated regime. Some exact results for associated Wilson ratios are also obtained.
We study the low-temperature transport properties of systems of parallel quantum dots described by the N-impurity Anderson model. We calculate the quasiparticle scattering phase shifts, spectral functions, and correlations as a function of the gate voltage for N up to 5. For any N, the conductance at the particle-hole symmetric point is unitary. For $N\ensuremath{\ge}2$, a transition from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic impurity spin correlations occurs at some gate voltage. For $N\ensuremath{\ge}3$, there is an additional transition due to an abrupt change in average impurity occupancy. For odd N, the conductance is discontinuous through both quantum phase transitions, while for even N only the magnetic transition affects the conductance. Similar effects should be experimentally observable in systems of quantum dots with ferromagnetic conduction-band-mediated interdot exchange interactions.
We study correlated two-level quantum dots, coupled in effective one-channel fashion to metallic leads, with electron interactions including on-level and interlevel Coulomb repulsions, as well as the interorbital Hund's rule exchange favoring the spin-1 state in the relevant sector of the free dot. For arbitrary dot occupancy, the underlying phases, quantum phase transitions (QPTs), thermodynamics, single-particle dynamics, and electronic transport properties are considered, and direct comparison is made to conductance experiments on lateral quantum dots. Two distinct phases arise generically, one characterized by a normal Fermi liquid fixed point (FP) and the other by an underscreened (USC) spin-1 FP. Associated QPTs, which occur in general in a mixed valent regime of nonintegral dot charge, are found to consist of continuous lines of Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions, separated by first-order level-crossing transitions at high symmetry points. A ``Friedel-Luttinger sum rule'' is derived and, together with a deduced generalization of Luttinger's theorem to the USC phase (a singular Fermi liquid), is used to obtain a general result for the T=0 zero-bias conductance, expressed solely in terms of the dot occupancy and applicable to both phases. Relatedly, dynamical signatures of the QPT show two broad classes of behavior, corresponding to the collapse of either a Kondo resonance, or antiresonance, as the transition is approached from the Fermi liquid phase, the latter behavior being apparent in experimental differential conductance maps. The problem is studied using the numerical renormalization group method, combined with analytical arguments.