arXiv subjects

M. A. Skvortsov

Publications and source records attributed to M. A. Skvortsov.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Giant Nernst Effect due to Fluctuating Cooper Pairs in Superconductors

A theory of the fluctuation-induced Nernst effect is developed for arbitrary magnetic fields and temperatures beyond the upper critical field line in a two-dimensional superconductor. First, we derive a simple phenomenological formula for the Nernst coefficient, which naturally explains the giant Nernst signal due to fluctuating Cooper pairs. The latter is shown to be large even far from the transition and may exceed by orders of magnitude the Fermi liquid terms. We also present a complete microscopic calculation (which includes quantum fluctuations) of the Nernst coefficient and give its asymptotic dependencies in various regions on the phase diagram. It is argued that the magnitude and the behavior of the Nernst signal observed experimentally in disordered superconducting films can be well-understood on the basis of the superconducting fluctuation theory.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Dyson-Maleev representation of nonlinear sigma-models

For nonlinear sigma-models in the unitary symmetry class, the non-linear target space can be parameterized with cubic polynomials. This choice of coordinates has been known previously as the Dyson-Maleev parameterization for spin systems, and we show that it can be applied to a wide range of sigma-models. The practical use of this parameterization includes simplification of diagrammatic calculations (in perturbative methods) and of algebraic manipulations (in non-perturbative approaches). We illustrate the use and specific issues of the Dyson-Maleev parameterization with three examples: the Keldysh sigma-model for time-dependent random Hamiltonians, the supersymmetric sigma-model for random matrices, and the supersymmetric transfer-matrix technique for quasi-one-dimensional disordered wires. We demonstrate that nonlinear sigma-models of unitary-like symmetry classes C and B/D also admit the Dyson-Maleev parameterization.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Mesoscopic fluctuations of the supercurrent in diffusive Josephson junctions

We study mesoscopic fluctuations and weak localization correction to the supercurrent in Josephson junctions with coherent diffusive electron dynamics in the normal part. Two kinds of junctions are considered: a chaotic dot coupled to superconductors by tunnel barriers and a diffusive junction with transparent normal--superconducting interfaces. The amplitude of current fluctuations and the weak localization correction to the average current are calculated as functions of the ratio between the superconducting gap and the electron dwell energy, temperature, and superconducting phase difference across the junction. Technically, fluctuations on top of the spatially inhomogeneous proximity effect in the normal region are described by the replicated version of the σ-model. For the case of diffusive junctions with transparent interfaces, the magnitude of mesoscopic fluctuations of the critical current appears to be nearly 3 times larger than the prediction of the previous theory which did not take the proximity effect into account.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Local correlations of different eigenfunctions in a disordered wire

We calculate the correlator of the local density of states <ρ_{E}(r_1)ρ_{E+ω}(r_2)> in quasi-one-dimensional disordered wires in a magnetic field, assuming that |r_1-r_2| is much smaller than the localization length. This amounts to finding the zero mode of the transfer-matrix Hamiltonian for the supersymmetric sigma-model, which is done exactly by the mapping to the three-dimensional Coulomb problem. Both the regimes of level repulsion and level attraction are obtained, depending on |r_1-r_2|. We demonstrate that the correlations of different eigenfunctions in the quasi-one-dimensional and strictly one-dimensional cases are dissimilar.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Quantum mechanics with a time-dependent random unitary Hamiltonian: A perturbative study of the nonlinear Keldysh sigma-model

We analyze the perturbative series of the Keldysh-type sigma-model proposed recently for describing the quantum mechanics with time-dependent Hamiltonians from the unitary Wigner-Dyson random-matrix ensemble. We observe that vertices of orders higher than four cancel, which allows us to reduce the calculation of the energy-diffusion constant to that in a special kind of the matrix ϕ^4 model. We further verify that the perturbative four-loop correction to the energy-diffusion constant in the high-velocity limit cancels, in agreement with the conjecture of one of the authors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Superconductivity in disordered thin films: giant mesoscopic fluctuations

We discuss intrinsic inhomogeneities of superconductive properties of uniformly disordered thin films with large dimensionless conductance g. It is shown that mesoscopic fluctuations, which usually contain a small factor 1/g, are crucially enhanced near the critical conductance g_c >> 1 where superconductivity is destroyed at T=0 due to Coulomb suppression of the Cooper attraction. This leads to strong spatial fluctuations of the local transition temperature and thus to percolative nature of the thermal superconductive transition.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Energy absorption in time-dependent unitary random matrix ensembles: dynamic vs Anderson localization

We consider energy absorption in an externally driven complex system of noninteracting fermions with the chaotic underlying dynamics described by the unitary random matrices. In the absence of quantum interference the energy absorption rate W(t) can be calculated with the help of the linear-response Kubo formula. We calculate the leading two-loop interference correction to the semiclassical absorption rate for an arbitrary time dependence of the external perturbation. Based on the results for periodic perturbations, we make a conjecture that the dynamics of the periodically-driven random matrices can be mapped onto the one-dimensional Anderson model. We predict that in the regime of strong dynamic localization W(t) ln(t)/t^2 rather than decays exponentially.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Coulomb Blockade of Proximity Effect at Large Conductance

We consider the proximity effect in a normal dot coupled to a bulk superconducting reservoir by the tunnel contact with large normal conductance. Coulomb interaction in the dot suppresses the proximity minigap induced in the normal part of the system. We find exact expressions for the thermodynamic and tunneling minigaps as functions of the junction's capacitance. The tunneling minigap interpolates between its proximity-induced value in the regime of weak Coulomb interaction to the Coulomb gap in the regime of strong interaction. In the intermediate case a non-universal two-step structure of the tunneling density of states is predicted. The charge quantization in the dot is also studied.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Quantum percolation in granular metals

Theory of quantum corrections to conductivity of granular metal films is developed for the realistic case of large randomly distributed tunnel conductances. Quantum fluctuations of intergrain voltages (at energies E much below bare charging energy scale E_C) suppress the mean conductance \bar{g}(E) much stronger than its standard deviation σ(E). At sufficiently low energies E_* any distribution becomes broad, with σ(E_*) ~ \bar{g}(E_*), leading to strong local fluctuations of the tunneling density of states. Percolative nature of metal-insulator transition is established by combination of analytic and numerical analysis of the matrix renormalization group equations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Dephasing in disordered metals with superconductive grains

Temperature dependence of electron dephasing time $τ_ϕ(T)$ is calculated for a disordered metal with small concentration of superconductive grains. Above the macroscopic superconducting transition line, when electrons in the metal are normal, Andreev reflection from the grains leads to a nearly temperature-independent contribution to the dephasing rate. In a broad temperature range $1/τ_phi(T)$ strongly exceeds the prediction of the classical theory of dephasing in normal disordered conductors, whereas magnetoresistance is dominated (in two dimensions) by the Maki-Tompson correction and is positive.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

On the effect of far impurities on the density of states of two-dimensional electron gas in a strong magnetic field

The effect of impurities situated at different distances from a two-dimensional electron gas on the density of states in a strong magnetic field is analyzed. Based on the exact result of Brezin, Gross, and Itzykson, we calculate the density of states in the whole energy range, assuming the Poisson distribution of impurities in the bulk. It is shown that in the case of small impurity concentration the density of states is qualitatively different from the model case when all impurities are located in the plane of the two-dimensional electron gas.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Dynamic localization in quantum dots: analytical theory

We analyze the response of a complex quantum-mechanical system (e. g., a quantum dot) to a time-dependent perturbation. Assuming the dot energy spectrum and the perturbation to be described by the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble of random matrices we find the quantum corrections to the energy absorption rate as a function of dephasing time. If the perturbation is a sum of d harmonics with incommensurate frequencies, the quantum corrections behave similarly to those of conductivity for the d-dimensional Anderson model of the orthogonal symmetry class. For periodic perturbations, the leading quantum corrections are generically absent as in the systems of the unitary symmetry class. Exceptions are the harmonic perturbation and all other periodic perturbations that obey the generalized time-reversal condition (with an arbitrary time shift). Such cases fall into the quasi-1d orthogonal universality class.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Vortex viscosity in the moderately clean limit of layered superconductors

We present a microscopic calculation of the energy dissipation in the core of a vortex moving in a two-dimensional or layered superconductor in the moderately clean regime. In this regime, the quasiclassical Bardeen--Stephen result remains valid in spite of the strong correlations between the energy levels. We find that the quasiclassical expression applies both in the limit of fast vortex motion (with transitions between smeared levels) and in the limit of slow vortex motion (with nearly adiabatic dynamics). This finding can be related to the similar result known for the unitary random-matrix model.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Weak Charge Quantization on Superconducting Islands

We consider the Coulomb blockade on a superconductive quantum dot strongly coupled to a lead through a tunnelling barrier and/or normal diffusive metal. Andreev transport of the correlated pairs leads to quantum fluctuations of the charge on the dot. These fluctuations result in exponential renormalization of the effective charging energy. We employ two complimentary ways to approach the problem, leading to the coinciding results: the instanton and the functional RG treatment of the non-linear sigma model. We also derive the charging energy renormalization in terms of arbitrary transmission matrix of the multi-channel interface.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Density of States in a Mesoscopic SNS Junction

Semiclassical theory of proximity effect predicts a gap E_g \sim hD/L^2 in the excitation spectrum of a long diffusive SNS junction. Mesoscopic fluctuations lead to anomalously localized states in the normal part of the junction. As a result, a non-zero, yet exponentially small, density of states appears at energies below E_g. In the framework of the supermatrix nonlinear sigma-model these prelocalized states are due to instanton configurations with broken supersymmetry. The exact result for the DOS near the semiclassical threshold is found provided the dimensionless conductance of the normal part is large. The case of poorly transparent interfaces between the normal and superconductive regions is also considered. In this limit the total number of the subgap states may be large.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Density of States below the Thouless Gap in a Mesoscopic SNS Junction

Quasiclassical theory predicts an existence of a sharp energy gap E_g \sim D/L^2 in the excitation spectrum of a long diffusive superconductor--normal metal--superconductor (SNS) junction. We show that mesoscopic fluctuations remove the sharp edge of the spectrum, leading to a nonzero DoS for all energies. Physically, this effect originates from the quasi-localized states in the normal metal. Technically, we use an extension of Efetov's supermatrix sigma-model for mixed NS systems. We demonstrate the equivalence of the supersymmetric saddle-point solution to the standard quasiclassical Usadel solution, and show that the instanton solution with broken supersymmetry provides a non-zero DoS at energies E < E_g.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2000

Proximity Action theory of superconductive nanostructures

We review a novel approach to the superconductive proximity effect in disordered normal-superconducting (N-S) structures. The method is based on the multicharge Keldysh action and is suitable for the treatment of interaction and fluctuation effects. As an application of the formalism, we study the subgap conductance and noise in two-dimensional N-S systems in the presence of the electron-electron interaction in the Cooper channel. It is shown that singular nature of the interaction correction at large scales leads to a nonmonotonuos temperature, voltage and magnetic field dependence of the Andreev conductance.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Superconductive proximity effect in interacting disordered conductors

We present a general theory of the superconductive proximity effect in disordered normal--superconducting (N-S) structures, based on the recently developed Keldysh action approach. In the case of the absence of interaction in the normal conductor we reproduce known results for the Andreev conductance G_A at arbitrary relation between the interface resistance R_T and the diffusive resistance R_D. In two-dimensional N-S systems, electron-electron interaction in the Cooper channel of normal conductor is shown to strongly affect the value of G_A as well as its dependence on temperature, voltage and magnetic field. In particular, an unusual maximum of G_A as a function of temperature and/or magnetic field is predicted for some range of parameters R_D and R_T. The Keldysh action approach makes it possible to calculate the full statistics of charge transfer in such structures. As an application of this method, we calculate the noise power of an N-S contact as a function of voltage, temperature, magnetic field and frequency for arbitrary Cooper repulsion in the normal metal and arbitrary values of the ratio R_D/R_T.

cond-mat.supr-con↗