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Christophe Texier

Publications and source records attributed to Christophe Texier.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Effect of connecting wires on the decoherence due to electron-electron interaction in a metallic ring

We consider the weak localization in a ring connected to reservoirs through leads of finite length and submitted to a magnetic field. The effect of decoherence due to electron-electron interaction on the harmonics of AAS oscillations is studied, and more specifically the effect of the leads. Two results are obtained for short and long leads regimes. The scale at which the crossover occurs is discussed. The long leads regime is shown to be more realistic experimentally.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Magnetoconductance oscillations in metallic rings and decoherence due to electron-electron interaction

We study weak localization in chains of metallic rings. We show than nonlocality of quantum transport can drastically affect the behaviour of the harmonics of magnetoconductance oscillations. Two different geometries are considered: the case of rings separated by long wires compared to the phase coherence length and the case of contacted rings. In a second part we discuss the role of decoherence due to electron-electron interaction in these two geometries.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Al'tshuler-Aronov correction to the conductivity of a large metallic square network

We consider the correction $Δσ_\mathrm{ee}$ due to electron-electron interaction to the conductivity of a weakly disordered metal (Al'tshuler-Aronov correction). The correction is related to the spectral determinant of the Laplace operator. The case of a large square metallic network is considered. The variation of $Δσ_\mathrm{ee}(L_T)$ as a function of the thermal length $L_T$ is found very similar to the variation of the weak localization $Δσ_\mathrm{WL}(L_ϕ)$ as a function of the phase coherence length. Our result for $Δσ_\mathrm{ee}$ interpolates between the known 1d and 2d results, but the interaction parameter entering the expression of $Δσ_\mathrm{ee}$ keeps a 1d behaviour. Quite surprisingly, the result is very close to the 2d logarithmic behaviour already for $L_T\sim{a}/2$, where $a$ is the lattice parameter.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Dimensional crossover in quantum networks: from macroscopic to mesoscopic Physics

We report on magnetoconductance measurements of metallic networks of various sizes ranging from 10 to $10^{6}$ plaquettes, with anisotropic aspect ratio. Both Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak (AAS) $h/2e$ periodic oscillations and Aharonov-Bohm (AB) $h/e$ periodic oscillations are observed for all networks. For large samples, the amplitude of both oscillations results from the incoherent superposition of contributions of phase coherent regions. When the transverse size becomes smaller than the phase coherent length $L_ϕ$, one enters a new regime which is phase coherent (mesoscopic) along one direction and macroscopic along the other, leading to a new size dependence of the quantum oscillations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Dephasing due to electron-electron interaction in a diffusive ring

We study the effect of the electron-electron interaction on the weak localization correction of a ring pierced by a magnetic flux. We compute exactly the path integral giving the magnetoconductivity for an isolated ring. The results are interpreted in a time representation. This allows to characterize the nature of the phase coherence relaxation in the ring. The nature of the relaxation depends on the time regime (diffusive or ergodic) but also on the harmonics $n$ of the magnetoconductivity. Whereas phase coherence relaxation is non exponential for the harmonic $n=0$, it is always exponential for harmonics $n\neq0$. Then we consider the case of a ring connected to reservoirs and discuss the effect of connecting wires. We recover the behaviour of the harmonics predicted recently by Ludwig & Mirlin for a large perimeter (compared to the Nyquist length). We also predict a new behaviour when the Nyquist length exceeds the perimeter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Functionals of the Brownian motion, localization and metric graphs

We review several results related to the problem of a quantum particle in a random environment. In an introductory part, we recall how several functionals of the Brownian motion arise in the study of electronic transport in weakly disordered metals (weak localization). Two aspects of the physics of the one-dimensional strong localization are reviewed : some properties of the scattering by a random potential (time delay distribution) and a study of the spectrum of a random potential on a bounded domain (the extreme value statistics of the eigenvalues). Then we mention several results concerning the diffusion on graphs, and more generally the spectral properties of the Schrödinger operator on graphs. The interest of spectral determinants as generating functions characterizing the diffusion on graphs is illustrated. Finally, we consider a two-dimensional model of a charged particle coupled to the random magnetic field due to magnetic vortices. We recall the connection between spectral properties of this model and winding functionals of the planar Brownian motion.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Direct measurement of the phase coherence length in a GaAs/GaAlAs square network

The low temperature magnetoconductance of a large array of quantum coherentloops exhibits Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations which periodicitycorresponds to 1/2 flux quantum per loop.We show that the measurement of the harmonics content in a square networkprovides an accurate way to determine the electron phase coherence length$L\_ϕ$ in units of the lattice length without any adjustableparameters.We use this method to determine $L\_ϕ$ in a network realised from a 2Delectron gas (2DEG) in a GaAS/GaAlAs heterojunction. The temperaturedependence follows a power law $T^{-1/3}$ from 1.3 K to 25 mK with nosaturation, as expected for 1D diffusive electronic motion andelectron-electron scattering as the main decoherence mechanism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Quantum oscillations in mesoscopic rings and anomalous diffusion

We consider the weak localization correction to the conductance of a ring connected to a network. We analyze the harmonics content of the Al'tshuler-Aronov-Spivak (AAS) oscillations and we show that the presence of wires connected to the ring is responsible for a behaviour different from the one predicted by AAS. The physical origin of this behaviour is the anomalous diffusion of Brownian trajectories around the ring, due to the diffusion in the wires. We show that this problem is related to the anomalous diffusion along the skeleton of a comb. We study in detail the winding properties of Brownian curves around a ring connected to an arbitrary network. Our analysis is based on the spectral determinant and on the introduction of an effective perimeter probing the different time scales. A general expression of this length is derived for arbitrary networks. More specifically we consider the case of a ring connected to wires, to a square network, and to a Bethe lattice.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

How to increase a transmission with weak localization ? A geometrical effect

We study the quantum transport in multiterminal networks of quasi-one-dimensional diffusive wires. When calculating the weak localization correction to the conductances, we show that the Cooperon must be properly weighted over each wire. This can even change the sign of the weak localization correction in certain geometries.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

One-Dimensional Disordered Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics: A Brief Survey

We consider a one-dimensional model of localization based on the Witten Hamiltonian of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The low energy spectral properties are reviewed and compared with those of other models with off-diagonal disorder. Using recent results on exponential functionals of a Brownian motion we discuss the statistical properties of the ground state wave function and their multifractal behaviour.

cond-mat↗

Weak localization in multiterminal networks of diffusive wires

We study the quantum transport through networks of diffusive wires connected to reservoirs in the Landauer-Büttiker formalism. The elements of the conductance matrix are computed by the diagrammatic method. We recover the combination of classical resistances and obtain the weak localization corrections. For arbitrary networks, we show how the cooperon must be properly weighted over the different wires. Its nonlocality is clearly analyzed. We predict a new geometrical effect that may change the sign of the weak localization correction in multiterminal geometries.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Charge and currents distribution in graphs

We consider graphs made of one-dimensional wires connected at vertices, and on which may live a scalar potential. We are interested in a scattering situation where such a network is connected to infinite leads. We study the correlations of the charge in such graphs out of equilibrium, as well as the distribution of the currents in the wires, inside the graph. These quantities are related to the scattering matrix of the graph. We discuss the case where the graph is weakly connected to the wires.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Local Friedel sum rule on graphs

We consider graphs made of one-dimensional wires connected at vertices and on which may live a scalar potential. We are interested in a scattering situation where the graph is connected to infinite leads. We investigate relations between the scattering matrix and the continuous part of the local density of states, the injectivities, emissivities and partial local density of states. Those latter quantities can be obtained by attaching an extra lead at the point of interest and by investigating the transport in the limit of zero transmission into the additional lead. In addition to the continuous part related to the scattering states, the spectrum of graphs may present a discrete part related to states that remain uncoupled to the external leads. The theory is illustrated with the help of a few simple examples.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Scattering theory on graphs (2): the Friedel sum rule

We consider the Friedel sum rule in the context of the scattering theory for the Schrödinger operator $-\Dc_x^2+V(x)$ on graphs made of one-dimensional wires connected to external leads. We generalize the Smith formula for graphs. We give several examples of graphs where the state counting method given by the Friedel sum rule is not working. The reason for the failure of the Friedel sum rule to count the states is the existence of states localized in the graph and not coupled to the leads, which occurs if the spectrum is degenerate and the number of leads too small.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Scattering theory on graphs

We consider the scattering theory for the Schrödinger operator $-\Dc_x^2+V(x)$ on graphs made of one-dimensional wires connected to external leads. We derive two expressions for the scattering matrix on arbitrary graphs. One involves matrices that couple arcs (oriented bonds), the other involves matrices that couple vertices. We discuss a simple way to tune the coupling between the graph and the leads. The efficiency of the formalism is demonstrated on a few known examples.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Individual energy level distributions for one-dimensional diagonal and off-diagonal disorder

We study the distribution of the $n$-th energy level for two different one-dimensional random potentials. This distribution is shown to be related to the distribution of the distance between two consecutive nodes of the wave function. We first consider the case of a white noise potential and study the distributions of energy level both in the positive and the negative part of the spectrum. It is demonstrated that, in the limit of a large system ($L\to\infty$), the distribution of the $n$-th energy level is given by a scaling law which is shown to be related to the extreme value statistics of a set of independent variables. In the second part we consider the case of a supersymmetric random Hamiltonian (potential $V(x)=ϕ(x)^2+ϕ'(x)$). We study first the case of $ϕ(x)$ being a white noise with zero mean. It is in particular shown that the ground state energy, which behaves on average like $\exp{-L^{1/3}}$ in agreement with previous work, is not a self averaging quantity in the limit $L\to\infty$ as is seen in the case of diagonal disorder. Then we consider the case when $ϕ(x)$ has a non zero mean value.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Effect of incoherent scattering on shot noise correlations in the quantum Hall regime

We investigate the effect of incoherent scattering in a Hanbury Brown and Twiss situation with electrons in edge states of a three-terminal conductor submitted to a strong perpendicular magnetic field. The modelization of incoherent scattering is performed by introducing an additional voltage probe through which the current is kept equal to zero which causes voltage fluctuations at this probe. It is shown that inelastic scattering can lead in this framework to positive correlations, whereas correlations remain always negative for quasi-elastic scattering.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Spectral determinant on quantum graphs

We study the spectral determinant of the Laplacian on finite graphs characterized by their number of vertices V and of bonds B. We present a path integral derivation which leads to two equivalent expressions of the spectral determinant of the Laplacian either in terms of a V x V vertex matrix or a 2B x 2B link matrix that couples the arcs (oriented bonds) together. This latter expression allows us to rewrite the spectral determinant as an infinite product of contributions of periodic orbits on the graph. We also present a diagrammatic method that permits us to write the spectral determinant in terms of a finite number of periodic orbit contributions. These results are generalized to the case of graphs in a magnetic field. Several examples illustrating this formalism are presented and its application to the thermodynamic and transport properties of weakly disordered and coherent mesoscopic networks is discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗