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AIP conference proceedings

Relaxation dynamics in correlated quantum dots

Sabine Andergassen, Dirk Schuricht, Mikhail Pletyukhov, Herbert Schoeller

Published Jan 1, 2014• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We study quantum many-body effects on the real-time evolution of the current through quantum dots. By using a non-equilibrium renormalization group approach, we provide analytic results for the relaxation dynamics into the stationary state and identify the microscopic cutoff scales that determine the transport rates. We find rich non-equilibrium physics induced by the interplay of the different energy scales. While the short-time limit is governed by universal dynamics, the long-time behavior features characteristic oscillations as well as an interplay of exponential and power-law decay.

DOI
10.1063/1.4903140

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We study quantum many-body effects on the real-time evolution of the current through quantum dots. By using a non-equilibrium renormalization group approach, we provide analytic results for the relaxation dynamics into the stationary state and identify the microscopic cutoff scales that determine the transport rates. We find rich non-equilibrium physics induced by the interplay of the different energy scales. While the short-time limit is governed by universal dynamics, the long-time behavior features characteristic oscillations as well as an interplay of exponential and power-law decay.
We study the steady-state current in a minimal model for a quantum dot dominated by charge fluctuations and analytically describe the time evolution into this state. The current is driven by a finite-bias voltage V across the dot, and two different renormalization group methods are used to treat small-to-intermediate local Coulomb interactions. The corresponding flow equations can be solved analytically, which allows to identify all microscopic cutoff scales. Exploring the entire parameter space we find rich non-equilibrium physics which cannot be understood by simply considering the bias voltage as an infrared cutoff. For the experimentally relevant case of left-right asymmetric couplings, the current generically shows a power law suppression for large V . The relaxation dynamics towards the steady state features characteristic oscillations as well as an interplay of exponential and power law decay.
We study the dynamics in low dimensional correlated quantum systems. Advances in this thesis are three-fold. First, as a methodical point we extend the real-time formulation of the functional renormalization group approach introduced in [1]. Describing the transient time dependence of a given microscopic model prepared in an initial non-equilibrium state poses a formidable challenge in the presence of interaction. We successfully extend the functional renormalization group approach of [1] to finite temperature as well as extended interacting geometries. Furthermore, for both extensions we test the validity of the perturbatively motivated treatment by explicitly benchmarking to complementary methods and find that for not too large interactions the functional renormalization group proves to be quantitatively accurate. Second, we examine the non-equilibrium dynamics of open as well as closed quantum systems in the presence of correlations. We study a prominent prototype model for coherence in small quantum systems coupled to dissipative environments, namely the spin-boson model. We reveal that prevailing literature does not cover the full complexity of the dynamics encountered. The relaxation dynamics formerly classified as coherent and incoherent should be refined according to the results presented in this thesis: we propose a subdivision of the coherent regime into partially and asymptotically coherent. For the former the coherence signature of the dynamics is restricted only to intermediate times, while in the latter it extends in the asymptotic regime. Interestingly, we explicitly show that elevating temperature might be conducive to coherence, which is opposite to the expected behavior. For those closed quantum systems known to fall into the so called Luttinger Liquid universality class in equilibrium, we provide evidence that the equilibrium concept of universality seemingly carries over to the non-equilibrium steady-state. This is rather counter-intuitive, as universality is usually attributed to the low energy degrees of freedom only. Third, we study the thermoelectric transport properties of quantum dots. Quantum dots are promising candidates for highly efficient thermoelectric devices as they are not bounded by the Wiedemann-Franz law which strongly limits the efficiency of ordinary bulk systems. For this we study a charge fluctuating model and a model which additionally allows for spin fluctuations and phononic degrees of freedom. We find that in certain regimes quantum dots show very high efficiency when operated as power engines. [1] D. M. Kennes, ‘A Renormalization Group Approach to the Time Evolution of Correlated Quantum Dots’ Master’s thesis, RWTH Aachen (2011).
We study the effect of an external magnetic field on the transport properties of a quantum dot using a recently developed extension of the functional renormalization group approach to non-equilibrium situations. We discuss in particular the interplay and competition of the different energy scales of the dot and the magnetic field on the stationary non-equilibrium current and conductance. As rather interesting behavior we find a switching behavior of the magnetic field for intermediate correlations and bias voltage.
In interacting quantum many-body systems, relaxation toward equilibrium reflects a competition between internal chaotic dynamics and environmental dissipation. While conventional Markovian baths typically produce exponential decay, non-Markovian dissipation can give rise to more intricate behavior, including algebraic relaxation. We study an open Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model coupled to a pseudogapped fermionic bath, using the Keldysh formalism to compute steady-state correlations in the large-NNN limit. Our results uncover a rich dynamical phase diagram, with regimes of bath-driven power-law relaxation, chaos-driven exponential decay, and an intermediate pre-relaxation phase where exponential decay crosses over to algebraic decay. These findings demonstrate that non-Markovian environments can qualitatively reshape relaxation mechanisms in strongly correlated quantum many-body systems.
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.
We apply the real-time renormalization group (RG) in nonequilibrium to an arbitrary quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime. Within one-loop RG equations, we include self-consistently the kernel governing the dynamics of the reduced density matrix of the dot. As a result, we find that relaxation and dephasing rates generically cut off the RG flow. In addition, we include all other cutoff scales defined by temperature, energy excitations, frequency, and voltage. We apply the formalism to transport through single molecular magnets, realized by the fully anisotropic Kondo model (with three different exchange couplings Jx{J}_{x}Jx​, Jy{J}_{y}Jy​, and Jz{J}_{z}Jz​) in a magnetic field hz{h}_{z}hz​. We calculate the differential conductance as function of bias voltage VVV and discuss a quantum phase transition which can be tuned by changing the sign of JxJyJz{J}_{x}{J}_{y}{J}_{z}Jx​Jy​Jz​ via the anisotropy parameters. Finally, we calculate the noise $S(\ensuremath{\Omega})$ at finite frequency $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ for the isotropic Kondo model and find that the dephasing rate determines the height of the shoulders in $dS(\ensuremath{\Omega})∕d\ensuremath{\Omega}$ near $\ensuremath{\Omega}=V$.