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arXiv:cond-mat/9812351 · International Journal of Modern Physics B

PERSISTENT CURRENTS IN MESOSCOPIC RINGS AND BOUNDARY CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY

Sebastian Jaimungal A, M. H. S. Amin, Geordie Rose

Published Oct 30, 1999• 3 citations
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Abstract

A tight-binding model of electron dynamics in mesoscopic normal rings is studied using boundary conformal field theory. The partition function is calculated in the low energy limit and the persistent current generated as a function of an external magnetic flux threading the ring is found. We study the cases where there are defects and electron–electron interactions separately. The same temperature scaling for the persistent current is found in each case and the functional form can be fitted, with a high degree of accuracy, to experimental data.

DOI
10.1142/s0217979299002939

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A tight-binding model of electron dynamics in mesoscopic normal rings is studied using boundary conformal field theory. The partition function is calculated in the low energy limit and the persistent current generated as a function of an external magnetic flux threading the ring is found. We study the cases where there are defects and electron–electron interactions separately. The same temperature scaling for the persistent current is found in each case and the functional form can be fitted, with a high degree of accuracy, to experimental data.
We consider a one-dimensional mesoscopic quantum ring filled with spinless electrons and threaded by a magnetic flux, which carries a persistent current at zero temperature. The interplay of Coulomb interactions and a single on-site impurity yields a nontrivial dependence of the persistent current on the size of the ring. We determine numerically the asymptotic power law for systems up to 32 00032\text{ }00032 000 sites for various impurity strengths and compare with predictions from Bethe ansatz solutions combined with bosonization. The numerical results are obtained using an improved functional renormalization-group (fRG) method. We apply the density-matrix renormalization-group (DMRG) and exact diagonalization methods to benchmark the fRG calculations. We use DMRG to study the persistent current at low electron concentrations in order to extend the validity of our results to quasicontinuous systems. We briefly comment on the quality of calculated fRG ground-state energies by comparison with exact DMRG data.
Persistent currents flowing through disordered mesoscopic rings threaded by a magnetic flux are investigated. Models of fermions with on-site interactions (Hubbard model) or models of spinless fermions with nearest neighbor interactions are considered on 2D cylinders with twisted boundary conditions in one direction to account for a magnetic flux. Self-consistent Hartree-Fock methods are used to treat the electron-electron interaction beyond first order. We show that the second harmonic of the current (which is relevant in the diffusive regime) is strongly suppressed by the interaction in the case of spinless fermions while it is significantly enhanced in the Hubbard model. Our data also strongly suggest that the reduction (increase) of this harmonic is related to a strong increase (reduction) of the spatial fluctuations of the charge density.
Persistent currents flowing through disordered mesoscopic rings threaded by a magnetic flux are investigated. Models of fermions with on-site interactions (Hubbard model) or models of spinless fermions with nearest neighbor interactions are considered on 2D cylinders with twisted boundary conditions in one direction to account for a magnetic flux. Self-consistent Hartree-Fock methods are used to treat the electron-electron interaction beyond first order. We show that the second harmonic of the current (which is relevant in the diffusive regime) is {\it strongly suppressed} by the interaction in the case of spinless fermions while it is {\it significantly enhanced} in the Hubbard model. Our data also strongly suggest that the reduction (increase) of this harmonic is related to a strong increase (reduction) of the spacial fluctuations of the charge density.
We address the issue of whether a system of interacting electrons confined to a one-dimensional ring can sustain a spontaneous persistent current in the absence of an externally applied flux. The current-current coupling between electrons, describing radiative back-action effects, is exactly treated in the formalism of quantum electrodynamics, where the electrons interact via the exchange of virtual photons. In addition, the instantaneous screened Coulomb potential is taken into account using the Luttinger liquid model including finite-size parity effects. The partition function is calculated exactly, with the result that the system does not possess a spontaneous persistent current. We show that, in the presence of an external flux, the amplitude of the (conventional) persistent current is reduced by quantum fluctuations of the internal transverse electromagnetic field. These corrections can be expressed in terms of the self-induction of the ring and are shown to be of first and higher order in the small dimensionless parameter \ensuremath{\alpha}vF∗{\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{F}}^{\mathrm{*}}vF∗​/c, where \ensuremath{\alpha} is the fine-structure constant and vF∗{\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{F}}^{\mathrm{*}}vF∗​ the Fermi velocity renormalized through Coulomb interactions.
The effects of the Anderson impurities as well as weak electron–electron interactions on the persistent current in a mesoscopic ring are studied by using the Anderson–Hubbard model. In this system, the single-particle energy spectrum possesses a flat b and and the s-d hybridization plays an interesting role in the phase dependence of the persistent current. In the weak s-d hybridization, the phases can be locked for different electron numbers. This phase locking effect originates from the existence of the flat band. In addition, it is found from the mean field approach that weak electron–electron interactions lead to the spin splitting of the energy b and and the shift of the electron number for the phase locking effect.
Using the self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation for spinless electrons at zero temperature, we study the persistent current of the interacting electron gas in a one-dimensional continuous ring containing a single δδδ barrier. We calculate the persistent current as a function of the ring circumference, magnetic flux threading the ring, barrier strength, etc. We compare our results with the results of correlated models like the Luttinger liquid model and the Hubbard model solved by means of the renormalization group. A good agreement is found. First, the persistent current decays with the increasing ring circumference (LLL) faster than L−1L^{-1}L−1 and eventually like L−α−1L^{-α-1}L−α−1, where α>0α>0α>0 depends only on the electron-electron interaction. Second, the persistent current is a sine-shaped function of magnetic flux. This sine-like dependence and in particular the universal power law L−α−1L^{-α-1}L−α−1 have sofar been believed to arise only in the correlated many-body models. Observation of these features within the Hartree-Fock model is a surprising result.