arXiv · 1909.12402
Landauer transport as a quasisteady state on finite chains under unitary quantum dynamics
Abstract
In this paper, we study the emergence of a Landauer transport regime from the quantum-mechanical dynamics of free electrons in a disordered tight-binding chain, which is coupled to finite leads with open boundaries. Both partitioned and partition-free initial conditions are analyzed and seen to give rise, for large enough leads, to the same spatially uniform quasi-steady-state current, which agrees with the Landauer value. The quasi-steady-state regime is preceded by a transient regime, which last for a time proportional to the length of the disordered sample, and followed by recursions, after a time that is proportional to the lead size. These theoretical predictions may be of interest to future experiments on transport of fermionic ultra-cold atoms across optical lattices. We also observe finite-size current oscillations, superimposed on the quasi-steady-state, whose behavior depends crucially on the conditions initially imposed on the system. Finally, we show how a time-resolved Kubo formula is able to reproduce this Landauer transport regime, as the leads grow bigger.
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J. P. Santos Pires, B. Amorim, J. M. Viana Parente Lopes. 2019-09-26. Landauer transport as a quasisteady state on finite chains under unitary quantum dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.101.104203
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