arXiv subjects

Jan von Delft

Publications and source records attributed to Jan von Delft.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2003

Josephson effect between superconducting nanograins with discrete energy levels

We investigate the Josephson effect between two coupled superconductors, coupled by the tunneling of pairs of electrons, in the regime that their energy level spacing is comparable to the bulk superconducting gap, but neglecting any charging effects. In this regime, BCS theory is not valid, and the notion of a superconducting order parameter with a well-defined phase is inapplicable. Using the density matrix renormalization group, we calculate the ground state of the two coupled superconductors and extract the Josephson energy. The Josephson energy is found to display a reentrant behavior (decrease followed by increase) as a function of increasing level spacing. For weak Josephson coupling, a tight-binding approximation is introduced, which illustrates the physical mechanism underlying this reentrance in a transparent way. The DMRG method is also applied to two strongly coupled superconductors and allows a detailed examination of the limits of validity of the tight-binding model.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Flow equation renormalization of a spin-boson model with a structured bath

We discuss the dynamics of a spin coupled to a damped harmonic oscillator. This system can be mapped to a spin-boson model with a structured bath, i.e. the spectral function of the bath has a resonance peak. We diagonalize the model by means of infinitesimal unitary transformations (flow equations), thereby decoupling the small quantum system from its environment, and calculate spin-spin correlation functions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Decoherence of interacting electrons in disordered conductors: on the relation between influence functional and diagrammatic approaches

We establish a connection between the influence functional approach of Golubev and Zaikin (GZ) and Keldysh diagrammatic perturbation theory for calculating the decoherence time of interacting electrons in disordered metals; we show how the standard diagrams for the Cooperon self energy can be recovered from GZ's influence functional $e^{- (i S_R + S_I)}$. This allows us to shed light on GZ's claim that $S_R$ is irrelevant for decoherence: $S_R$ generates as many important self energy diagrams as $S_I$; GZ's neglect of $S_R$ is permissible only at high temperatures ($T > \hbar / τ_{el}$).

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Nonequilibrium excitations in Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles

In recent measurements of tunneling transport through individual ferromagnetic Co nanograins, Deshmukh, Guéron, Ralph et al. \cite{mandar,gueron} (DGR) observed a tunneling spectrum with discrete resonances, whose spacing was much smaller than what one would expect from naive independent-electron estimates. In a previous publication, \cite{prl_kleff} we had suggested that this was a consequence of nonequilibrium excitations, and had proposed a ``minimal model'' for ferromagnetism in nanograins with a discrete excitation spectrum as a framework for analyzing the experimental data. In the present paper, we provide a detailed analysis of the properties of this model: We delineate which many-body electron states must be considered when constructing the tunneling spectrum, discuss various nonequilibrium scenarios and compare their results with the experimental data of Refs. \cite{mandar,gueron}. We show that a combination of nonequilibrium spin- and single-particle excitations can account for most of the observed features, in particular the abundance of resonances, the resonance spacing and the absence of Zeeman splitting.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Algebraic Bethe Ansatz for a discrete-state BCS pairing model

We show in detail how Richardson's exact solution of a discrete-state BCS (DBCS) model can be recovered as a special case of an algebraic Bethe Ansatz solution of the inhomogeneous XXX vertex model with twisted boundary conditions: by implementing the twist using Sklyanin's K-matrix construction and taking the quasiclassical limit, one obtains a complete set of conserved quantities, H_i, from which the DBCS Hamiltonian can be constructed as a second order polynomial. The eigenvalues and eigenstates of the H_i (which reduce to the Gaudin Hamiltonians in the limit of infinitely strong coupling) are exactly known in terms of a set of parameters determined by a set of on-shell Bethe Ansatz equations, which reproduce Richardson's equations for these parameters. We thus clarify that the integrability of the DBCS model is a special case of the integrability of the twisted inhomogeneous XXX vertex model. Furthermore, by considering the twisted inhomogeneous XXZ model and/or choosing a generic polynomial of the H_i as Hamiltonian, more general exactly solvable models can be constructed. -- To make the paper accessible to readers that are not Bethe Ansatz experts, the introductory sections include a self-contained review of those of its feature which are needed here.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

A Model for Ferromagnetic Nanograins with Discrete Electronic States

We propose a simple phenomenological model for an ultrasmall ferromagnetic grain, formulated in terms of the grain's discrete energy levels. We compare the model's predictions with recent measurements of the discrete tunneling spectrum through such a grain. The model can qualitatively account for the observed features if we assume (i) that the anisotropy energy varies among different eigenstates of one grain, and (ii) that nonequilibrium spin accumulation occurs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Review: Superconductivity in ultrasmall metallic grains

We review recent experimental and theoretical work on superconductivity in ultrasmall metallic grains, i.e. grains sufficiently small that the conduction electron energy spectrum becomes discrete. The discrete excitation spectrum of an individual grain can be measured by the technique of single-electron tunneling spectroscopy, and reveals parity effects indicative of pairing correlations in the grain. After introducing the discrete BCS model that has been used to model such grains, we review a phenomenological, grand-canonical, variational BCS theory describing the paramagnetic breakdown of these pairing correlations with increasing magnetic field. We also review recent canonical theories that have been developed to describe how pairing correlations change during the crossover, with decreasing grain size, from the bulk limit to the limit of few electrons, and compare their results to those obtained using Richardson's exact solution of the discrete BCS model. [The present review, which is addressed at readers interested exclusively in superconducting aspects of ultrasmall grains, is an excerpt from a more general review of ultrasmall metallic grains, cond-mat/0101019, in which nonequilibrium excitations, spin-orbit scattering, ferromagnetism and the effect of a magnetic impurity are reviewed, too.]

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Spectroscopy of discrete energy levels in ultrasmall metallic grains

We review recent experimental and theoretical work on ultrasmall metallic grains, i.e. grains sufficiently small that the conduction electron energy spectrum becomes discrete. The discrete excitation spectrum of an individual grain can be measured by the technique of single-electron tunneling spectroscopy: the spectrum is extracted from the current-voltage characteristics of a single-electron transistor containing the grain as central island. We review experiments studying the influence on the discrete spectrum of superconductivity, nonequilibrium excitations, spin-orbit scattering and ferromagnetism. We also review the theoretical descriptions of these phenomena in ultrasmall grains, which require modifications or extensions of the standard bulk theories to include the effects of level discreteness.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2000

Transmission Phase Shift of a Quantum Dot with Kondo Correlations

We study the effects of Kondo correlations on the transmission phase shift of a quantum dot in an Aharonov-Bohm ring. We predict in detail how the development of a Kondo resonance should affect the dependence of the phase shift on transport voltage, gate voltage and temperature. This system should allow the first direct observation of the well-known scattering phase shift of pi/2 expected (but not directly measurable in bulk systems) at zero temperature for an electron scattering off a spin-1/2 impurity that is screened into a singlet.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Superconductivity in Ultrasmall Grains: Introduction to Richardson's Exact Solution

Studies of pairing correlations in ultrasmall metallic grains have commonly been based on a simple reduced BCS-model describing the scattering of pairs of electrons between discrete energy levels that come in time-reversed pairs. This model has an exact solution, worked out by Richardson in the context of nuclear physics in the 1960s. Here we give a tutorial introduction to his solution, and use it to check the quality of various previous treatments of this model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Dephasing in Metals by Two-Level Systems in the 2-Channel-Kondo Regime

We point out a novel, non-universal contribution to the dephasing rate 1/τ_ϕ\equiv γ_ϕof conduction electrons in metallic systems: scattering off non-magnetic two-level systems (TLSs) having almost degenerate Kondo ground states. In the regime Δ_{ren} < T < T_K (Δ_{ren} = renormalized level splitting, T_K = Kondo temperature), such TLSs exhibit non-Fermi-liquid physics that can cause γ_ϕ, which generally decreases with decreasing T, to seemingly saturate in a limited temperature range before vanishing for T \to 0. This could explain the saturation of dephasing recently observed in gold wires [Mohanty et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3366 (1997)].

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

The 2-Channel Kondo Model II: CFT Calculation of Non-Equilibrium Conductance through a Nanoconstriction containing 2-Channel Kondo Impurities

Recent experiments by Ralph and Buhrman on zero-bias anomalies in quenched Cu nanoconstrictions (reviewed in the preceding paper, I), are in accord with the assumption that the interaction between electrons and nearly degenerate two-level systems in the constriction can be described, for sufficiently small voltages and temperatures ($V,T < \Tk$), by the 2-channel Kondo (2CK) model. Motivated by these experiments, we introduce a generalization of the 2CK model, which we call the nanoconstriction 2-channel Kondo model (NTKM), that takes into account the complications arising from the non-equilibrium electron distribution in the nanoconstriction. We calculate the conductance $G(V,T)$ of the constriction in the weakly non-equilibrium regime of $V,T \ll \Tk$ by combining concepts from Hershfield's $Y$-operator formulation of non-equilibrium problems and Affleck and Ludwig's exact conformal field theory (CFT) solution of the 2CK problem (CFT technicalities are discussed in a subsequent paper, III). Finally, we extract from the conductance a universal scaling curve $Γ(v)$ and compare it with experiment. Combining our results with those of Hettler, Kroha and Hershfield, we conclude that the NTKM achieves quantitative agreement with the experimental scaling data.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1999

Exact Study of the Effect of Level Statistics in Ultrasmall Superconducting Grains

The reduced BCS model that is commonly used for ultrasmall superconducting grains has an exact solution worked out long ago by Richardson in the context of nuclear physics. We use it to check the quality of previous treatments of this model, and to investigate the effect of level statistics on pairing correlations. We find that the ground state energies are on average somewhat lower for systems with non-uniform than uniform level spacings, but both have an equally smooth crossover from the bulk to the few-electron regime. In the latter, statistical fluctuations in ground state energies strongly depend on the grain's electron number parity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1999

Fixed-N Superconductivity: The Exact Crossover from the Bulk to the Few-Electron Limit

We use two truly canonical approaches to describe superconductivity in ultrasmall metallic grains: (a) a variational fixed-N projected BCS-like theory and (b) an exact solution of the model Hamiltonian developed by Richardson in context with Nuclear Physics. Thereby we obtain a description of the entire crossover from the bulk BCS regime (mean level spacing $d\ll$ bulk gap $\tildeΔ$) to the `fluctuation-dominated' few-electron regime ($d\gg\tildeΔ$). A wave-function analysis shows in detail how the BCS limit is recovered and how for $d\gg\tildeΔ$ pairing correlations become delocalized in energy space.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1999

Fixed-N Superconductivity: The Crossover from the Bulk to the Few-Electron Limit

We present a truly canonical theory of superconductivity in ultrasmall metallic grains by variationally optimizing fixed-N projected BCS wave-functions, which yields the first full description of the entire crossover from the bulk BCS regime (mean level spacing $d \ll$ bulk gap $\tildeΔ$) to the ``fluctuation-dominated'' few-electron regime ($d\gg\tildeΔ$). A wave-function analysis shows in detail how the BCS limit is recovered for $d\ll \tilde Δ$, and how for $d \gg \tilde Δ$ pairing correlations become delocalized in energy space. An earlier grand-canonical prediction for an observable parity effect in the spectral gaps is found to survive the fixed-N projection.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1998

Simple Bosonization Solution of the 2-channel Kondo Model: I. Analytical Calculation of Finite-Size Crossover Spectrum

We present in detail a simple, exact solution of the anisotropic 2-channel Kondo (2CK) model at its Toulouse point. We reduce the model to a quadratic resonant-level model by generalizing the bosonization-refermionization approach of Emery and Kivelson to finite system size, but improve their method in two ways: firstly, we construct all boson fields and Klein factors explicitly in terms of the model's original fermion operators $c_{k σj}$, and secondly we clarify explicitly how the Klein factors needed when refermionizing act on the original Fock space. This enables us to explicitly follow the adiabatic evolution of the 2CK model's free-fermion states to its exact eigenstates, found by simply diagonalizing the resonant-level model for arbitrary magnetic fields and spin-flip coupling strengths. In this way we obtain an {\em analytic} description of the cross-over from the free to the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point. At the latter, it is remarkably simple to recover the conformal field theory results for the finite-size spectrum (implying a direct proof of Affleck and Ludwig's fusion hypothesis). By analyzing the finite-size spectrum, we directly obtain the operator content of the 2CK fixed point and the dimension of various relevant and irrelevant perturbations. Our method can easily be generalized to include various symmetry-breaking perturbations. Furthermore it establishes instructive connections between different renormalization group schemes such as poor man's scaling, Anderson-Yuval type scaling, the numerical renormalization group and finite-size scaling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1998

Bosonization for Beginners --- Refermionization for Experts

This tutorial gives an elementary and self-contained review of abelian bosonization in 1 dimension in a system of finite size $L$, following and simplifying Haldane's constructive approach. As a non-trivial application, we rigorously resolve (following Furusaki) a recent controversy regarding the tunneling density of states, $ρ_{dos} (ω)$, at the site of an impurity in a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid: we use finite-size refermionization to show exactly that for g=1/2 its asymptotic low-energy behavior is $ρ_{dos}(ω) \sim ω$. This agrees with the results of Fabrizio & Gogolin and of Furusaki, but not with those of Oreg and Finkel'stein (probably because we capture effects not included in their mean-field treatment of the Coulomb gas that they obtained by an exact mapping; their treatment of anti-commutation relations in this mapping is correct, however, contrary to recent suggestions in the literature). --- The tutorial is addressed to readers unfamiliar with bosonization, or for those interested in seeing ``all the details'' explicitly; it requires knowledge of second quantization only, not of field theory. At the same time, we hope that experts too might find useful our explicit treatment of certain subtleties -- these include the proper treatment of the so-called Klein factors that act as fermion-number ladder operators (and also ensure the anti-commutation of different species of fermion fields), the retention of terms of order 1/L, and a novel, rigorous formulation of finite-size refermionization of both $e^{-i Φ(x)}$ and the boson field $Φ(x)$ itself.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1998

The Kondo Box: A Magnetic Impurity in an Ultrasmall Metallic Grain

We study the Kondo effect generated by a single magnetic impurity embedded in an ultrasmall metallic grain, to be called a ``Kondo box''. We find that the Kondo resonance is strongly affected when the mean level spacing in the grain becomes larger than the Kondo temperature, in a way that depends on the parity of the number of electrons on the grain. We show that the single-electron tunneling conductance through such a grain features Kondo-induced Fano-type resonances of measurable size, with an anomalous dependence on temperature and level spacing.

cond-mat.str-el↗