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Energy relaxation rate and its mesoscopic fluctuations in quantum dots

Kozii, VA, Skvortsov, MA

Published Aug 1, 2016• 5 citations

Abstract

We analyze the applicability of the Fermi-golden-rule description of quasiparticle relaxation in a closed diffusive quantum dot with electron-electron interaction. Assuming that single-particle levels are already resolved but the initial stage of quasiparticle disintegration can still be described by a simple exponential decay, we calculate the average inelastic energy relaxation rate of single-particle excitations and its mesoscopic fluctuations. The smallness of mesoscopic fluctuations can then be used as a criterion for the validity of the Fermi-golden-rule description. Technically, we implement the real-space Keldysh diagram technique, handling correlations in the quasi-discrete spectrum non-perturbatively by means of the non-linear supersymmetric sigma model. The unitary symmetry class is considered for simplicity. Our approach is complementary to the lattice-model analysis of Fock space: though we are not able to describe many-body localization, we derive the exact lowest-order expression for mesoscopic fluctuations of the relaxation rate, making no assumptions on the matrix elements of the interaction. It is shown that for the quasiparticle with the energy ε on top of the thermal state with the temperature T, fluctuations of its energy width become large and the Fermi-golden-rule description breaks down at max{ε,T}~δg, where δ is the mean level spacing in the quantum dot, and g is its dimensionless conductance.

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We analyze the applicability of the Fermi-golden-rule description of quasiparticle relaxation in a closed diffusive quantum dot with electron-electron interaction. Assuming that single-particle levels are already resolved but the initial stage of quasiparticle disintegration can still be described by a simple exponential decay, we calculate the average inelastic energy relaxation rate of single-particle excitations and its mesoscopic fluctuations. The smallness of mesoscopic fluctuations can then be used as a criterion for the validity of the Fermi-golden-rule description. Technically, we implement the real-space Keldysh diagram technique, handling correlations in the quasi-discrete spectrum non-perturbatively by means of the non-linear supersymmetric sigma model. The unitary symmetry class is considered for simplicity. Our approach is complementary to the lattice-model analysis of Fock space: though we are not able to describe many-body localization, we derive the exact lowest-order expression for mesoscopic fluctuations of the relaxation rate, making no assumptions on the matrix elements of the interaction. It is shown that for the quasiparticle with the energy ε on top of the thermal state with the temperature T, fluctuations of its energy width become large and the Fermi-golden-rule description breaks down at max{ε,T}~δg, where δ is the mean level spacing in the quantum dot, and g is its dimensionless conductance.

We revisit the problem of quantum localization of many-body states in a quantum dot and the associated problem of relaxation of an excited state in a finite correlated electron system. We determine the localization threshold for the eigenstates in Fock space. We argue that the localization-delocalization transition (which manifests itself, e.g., in the statistics of many-body energy levels) becomes sharp in the limit of a large dimensionless conductance (or, equivalently, in the limit of weak interaction). We also analyze the temporal relaxation of quantum states of various types (a ``hot-electron state,'' a ``typical'' many-body state, and a single-electron excitation added to a ``thermal state'') with energies below, at, and above the transition.

The initial stages of the quasiparticle decay in a Fermi liquid are governed by a time-scale distinct from the scattering rates as derived from the Fermi golden rule approach. We show that the initial decay is nonexponential and that it is determined by the zeroth spectral moment of the electron self-energy. We analyzed numerically a number of approximations for the self-energy by comparing with exact configuration interaction calculations for small finite system with fragmented states. A numerically simple approach for computing the spreading of the quasiparticle states for large systems is devised.

In interacting quantum systems, the single-particle Green's function is expected to decay in time due to the interaction induced decoherence of quasiparticles. In the limit of weak interaction strengths (

Δ

), a naive application of Fermi's Golden Rule (FGR) predicts an

\mathcal{O}(Δ^{2})

quasiparticle decay rate. However, for 1d fermions on the lattice at

T>0

, this calculation gives a divergent result and the scaling of the quasiparticle lifetime with interaction strength remains an open question. In this work we propose a solution to this question: combining numerical simulations using the recently introduced dissipation-assisted operator evolution (DAOE) method, with non-perturbative diagrammatic re-summations, we predict a logarithmic enhancement of the quasiparticle decay rate

τ^{-1} \sim Δ^{2} \log Δ^{-2}

. We argue that this effect is present in a wide variety of well-known weakly interacting quantum fermionic and bosonic systems, and even in some classical systems, provided the non-interacting limit has quasiparticles with a generic dispersion.

We show that in low-dimensional disordered conductors, the quasiparticle decay and the relaxation of the phase are not exponential processes. In the quasi-one-dimensional case, both behave at small time as e(-(t/tau(in))3/2) where the inelastic time, tau(in), identical for both processes, is a power T-2/3 of the temperature. The nonexponential quasiparticle decay results from a modified derivation of the Fermi golden rule. This result implies the existence of an unusual distribution of relaxation times.

The decay rate of quasiparticles in quantum dots is studied through the real time calculation of the single-particle Green function in the self-consistent approximation. The method avoids exact diagonalization, transforming the problem into a system of coupled non-linear integral equations which may be solved iteratively. That allows us to study systems larger than previously treated in the literature. Our results for the inverse participation ratio of many-body states show that the threshold energy for the quasiparticle disintegration is ${E}^{*}\ensuremath{\sim}\sqrt{g}\ensuremath{\Delta}.$ The delocalization transition is soft rather than sharp. Three different regimes as function of the effective interaction strength may be clearly identified at high energies.

The chaotic mixing by random two-body interactions of many-electron Fock states in a confined geometry is investigated. Two regimes are distinguished in the dependence of the typical number of Fock states that are mixed into an eigenstate on the interaction strength V, the excitation energy varepsilon, and the level spacing Delta. In both regimes the number is large (indicating delocalization in Fock space). However, only the large- V regime is described by the golden rule (indicating chaotic mixing). The crossover region is characterized by a maximum in a scaling function that becomes more pronounced with increasing excitation energy. The scaling parameter that governs the transition is (varepsilonV/Delta(2))ln(Delta/V).