arXiv subjects

R. A. Roemer

Publications and source records attributed to R. A. Roemer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Lattice thermal conductivity of graphene nanostructures

Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics is used to investigate the heat current due to the atomic lattice vibrations in graphene nanoribbons and nanorings under a thermal gradient. We consider a wide range of temperature, nanoribbon widths up to 6nm and the effect of moderate edge disorder. We find that narrow graphene nanorings can efficiently suppress the lattice thermal conductivity at low temperatures (~100K), as compared to nanoribbons of the same width. Remarkably, rough edges do not appear to have a large impact on lattice energy transport through graphene nanorings while nanoribbons seem more affected by imperfections. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the effects of hydrogen-saturated edges can be neglected in these graphene nanostructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Non-equilibrium transport through a disordered molecular nanowire

We investigate the non-equilibrium transport properties of a disordered molecular nanowire. The nanowire is regarded as a quasi-one-dimensional organic crystal composed of self-assembled molecules. One orbital and a single random energy are assigned to each molecule while the intermolecular coupling does not fluctuate. Consequently, electronic states are expected to be spatially localized. We consider the regime of strong localization, namely, the localization length is smaller than the length of the molecular wire. Electron-vibron interaction, taking place in each single molecule, is also taken into account. We investigate the interplay between disorder and electron-vibron interaction in response to either an applied electric bias or a temperature gradient. To this end, we calculate the electric and heat currents when the nanowire is connected to leads, using the Keldysh non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. At intermediate temperature, scattering by disorder dominates both charge and heat transport. We find that the electron-vibron interaction enhances the effect of the disorder on the transport properties due to the exponential suppression of tunneling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Robust Nodal Structure of Landau Level Wave Functions Revealed by Fourier Transform Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy is used to study the real-space local density of states (LDOS) of a two-dimensional electron system in magnetic field, in particular within higher Landau levels (LL). By Fourier transforming the LDOS, we find a set of n radial minima at fixed momenta for the nth LL. The momenta of the minima depend only on the inverse magnetic length. By comparison with analytical theory and numerical simulations, we attribute the minima to the nodes of the quantum cyclotron orbits, which decouple in Fourier representation from the random guiding center motion due to the disorder. This robustness of the nodal structure of LL wave functions should be viewed as a key property of quantum Hall states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Rigidity analysis of HIV-1 protease

We present a rigidity analysis on a large number of X-ray crystal structures of the enzyme HIV-1 protease using the 'pebble game' algorithm of the software FIRST. We find that although the rigidity profile remains similar across a comprehensive set of high resolution structures, the profile changes significantly in the presence of an inhibitor. Our study shows that the action of the inhibitors is to restrict the flexibility of the beta-hairpin flaps which allow access to the active site. The results are discussed in the context of full molecular dynamics simulations as well as data from NMR experiments.

q-bio.BM↗

arXiv2009

Localised Magneto-Optical Collective Excitations of Impure Graphene

We study optically-induced collective excitations of graphene in the presence of a strong perpendicular magnetic field and a single impurity. We determine the energies and absorption strengths of these excitations, which become localised on the impurity. Two different types of impurity are considered i. the long-range Coulomb impurity, ii. a delta-function impurity located at either an A or B graphene sublattice site. Both impurity types result in some bound states appearing both above and below the magnetoplasmon continuum, although the effect of the short-range impurity is less pronounced. The dependence of the energies and oscillator strengths of the bound states on the filling factor is investigated.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Localized Collective Excitations in Doped Graphene in Strong Magnetic Fields

We consider collective excitations in graphene with filled Landau levels (LL's) in the presence of an external potential due to a single charged donor D+ or acceptor A- impurity. We show that localized collective modes split off the magnetoplasmon continuum and, in addition, quasibound states are formed within the continuum. A study of the evolution of the strengths and energies of magneto-optical transitions is performed for integer filling factors nu = 1, 2, 3, 4 of the lowest LL. We predict impurity absorption peaks above as well as below the cyclotron resonance. We show that the single particle electron-hole symmetry of graphene leads to a duality between the spectra of collective modes for the D+ and A-. The duality shows up as a set of the D+ and A- magneto-absorption peaks having same energies, but active in different circular polarizations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

The Quantum Hall Transition in Real Space: From Localized to Extended States

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy in ultra-high vacuum at low temperature (T = 0.3 K) and high magnetic fields (B < 12 T), we directly probe electronic wave functions across an integer quantum Hall transition. In accordance with theoretical predictions, we observe the evolution from localized drift states in the insulating phases to branched extended drift states at the quantum critical point. The observed microscopic behavior close to the extended state indicates points of localized quantum tunneling, which are considered to be decisive for a quantitative description of the transition.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Electronic transport and localization in short and long DNA

The question of whether DNA conducts electric charges is intriguing to physicists and biologists alike. The suggestion that electron transfer/transport in DNA might be biologically important has triggered a series of experimental and theoretical investigations. Here, we review recent theoretical progress by concentrating on quantum-chemical, molecular dynamics-based approaches to short DNA strands and physics-motivated tight-binding transport studies of long or even complete DNA sequences. In both cases, we observe small, but significant differences between specific DNA sequences such as periodic repetitions and aperiodic sequences of AT bases, lambda-DNA, centromeric DNA, promoter sequences as well as random-ATGC DNA.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2003

A Matrix Model for Fractional Quantum Hall States

We have developed a matrix model for FQH states at filling factor ν_{k_1k_2} going beyond the Laughlin theory. To illustrate our idea, we have considered an FQH system of a finite number N=(N_{1}+N_{2}) of electrons with filling factor ν_{k_{1}k_{2}} = ν_{p_{1}p_{2}}=\frac{p_{2}}{p_{1}p_{2}-1}; p_{1} is an odd integer and p_{2} is an even integer. The ν_{p_{1}p_{2}} series corresponds just to the level two of the Haldane hierarchy; it recovers the Laughlin series ν_{p_{1}} =\frac{1}{p_{1}} by going to the limit p_{2} large and contains several observable FQH states such as ν= 2/3, 2/5, >....

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Thermoelectric Properties of Disordered Systems

The electronic properties of disordered systems have been the subject of intense study for several decades. Thermoelectric properties, such as thermopower and thermal conductivity, have been relatively neglected. A long standing problem is represented by the sign of the thermoelectric power. In crystalline semiconductors this is related to the sign of the majority carriers, but in non-crystalline systems it is commonly observed to change sign at low temperatures. In spite of its apparent universality this change has been interpreted in a variety of ways in different systems. We have developed a Green's function recursion algorithm based on the Chester-Thelling-Kubo-Greenwood formula for calculating the kinetic coefficients on long strips or bars. From these we can deduce the electrical conductivity, the Seebeck and Peltier coefficients and the thermal conductivity, as well as the Lorenz number. We present initial results for 1D systems. We observe a Lorentzian distribution for the thermopower which is modified by the presence of inelastic scattering. This could give rise to non-negligible quantum fluctuations in macroscopic systems at low temperatures.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2002

Comparing measured and calculated local density of states in a disordered two-dimensional electron system

The local density of states (LDOS) of the adsorbate induced two-dimensional electron system (2DES) on n-InAs(110) is studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy. In contrast to a similar 3DES, the 2DES LDOS exhibits 20 times stronger corrugations and rather irregular structures. Both results are interpreted as a consequence of weak localization. Fourier transforms of the LDOS reveal that the k-values of the unperturbed 2DES still dominate the 2DES, but additional lower k-values contribute significantly. To clarify the origin of the LDOS patterns, we measure the potential landscape of the same 2DES area allowing to calculate the expected LDOS from the single particle Schr"odinger equation and to directly compare it with the measured one.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2002

Direct comparison between potential landscape and local density of states in a disordered two-dimensional electron system

The local density of states (LDOS) of the adsorbate induced two-dimensional electron system (2DES) on n-InAs(110) is studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The LDOS exhibits irregular structures with fluctuation lengths decreasing with increasing energy. Fourier transformation reveals that the k-values of the unperturbed 2DES dominate the LDOS, but additional lower k-values contribute significantly. To clarify the origin of the additional k-space intensity, we measure the potential landscape of the same 2DES area with the help of the tip induced quantum dot. This allows to calculate the expected LDOS from the single particle Schroedinger equation and to directly compare it with the measured one. Reasonable correspondance between calculated and measured LDOS is found.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Integer quantum Hall transition in the presence of a long-range-correlated quenched disorder

We theoretically study the effect of long-ranged inhomogeneities on the critical properties of the integer quantum Hall transition. For this purpose we employ the real-space renormalization-group (RG) approach to the network model of the transition. We start by testing the accuracy of the RG approach in the absence of inhomogeneities, and infer the correlation length exponent nu=2.39 from a broad conductance distribution. We then incorporate macroscopic inhomogeneities into the RG procedure. Inhomogeneities are modeled by a smooth random potential with a correlator which falls off with distance as a power law, r^{-alpha}. Similar to the classical percolation, we observe an enhancement of nu with decreasing alpha. Although the attainable system sizes are large, they do not allow one to unambiguously identify a cusp in the nu(alpha) dependence at alpha_c=2/nu, as might be expected from the extended Harris criterion. We argue that the fundamental obstacle for the numerical detection of a cusp in the quantum percolation is the implicit randomness in the Aharonov-Bohm phases of the wave functions. This randomness emulates the presence of a short-range disorder alongside the smooth potential.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2000

Metal-insulator transition in anisotropic systems

We study the three-dimensional Anderson model of localization with anisotropic hopping, i.e., weakly coupled chains and weakly coupled planes. In our extensive numerical study we identify and characterize the metal-insulator transition by means of the transfer-matrix method and energy level statistics. Using high accuracy data for large system sizes we estimate the critical exponent as ν=1.6 +/- 0.3. This is in agreement with its value in the isotropic case and in other models of the orthogonal universality class.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2000

Critical behavior of the thermoelectric transport properties in amorphous systems near the metal-insulator transition

The scaling behavior of the thermoelectric transport properties in disordered systems is studied in the energy region near the metal-insulator transition. Using an energy-dependent conductivity $σ$ obtained experimentally, we extend our linear-response-based transport calculations in the three-dimensional Anderson model of localization. Taking a dynamical scaling exponent $z$ in agreement with predictions from scaling theories, we show that the temperature-dependent $σ$, the thermoelectric power $S$, the thermal conductivity $K$ and the Lorenz number $L_0$ obey scaling.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2000

The Aharonov-Bohm effect for an exciton

We study theoretically the exciton absorption on a ring shreded by a magnetic flux. For the case when the attraction between electron and hole is short-ranged we get an exact solution of the problem. We demonstrate that, despite the electrical neutrality of the exciton, both the spectral position of the exciton peak in the absorption, and the corresponding oscillator strength oscillate with magnetic flux with a period $Φ_0$---the universal flux quantum. The origin of the effect is the finite probability for electron and hole, created by a photon at the same point, to tunnel in the opposite directions and meet each other on the opposite side of the ring.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Off-diagonal disorder in the Anderson model of localization

We examine the localization properties of the Anderson Hamiltonian with additional off-diagonal disorder using the transfer-matrix method and finite-size scaling. We compute the localization lengths and study the metal-insulator transition (MIT) as a function of diagonal disorder, as well as its energy dependence. Furthermore we investigate the different influence of odd and even system sizes on the localization properties in quasi one-dimensional systems. Applying the finite-size scaling approach in conjunction with a nonlinear fitting procedure yields the critical parameters of the MIT. In three dimensions, we find that the resulting critical exponent of the localization length agrees with the exponent for the Anderson model with pure diagonal disorder.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2000

Integrable impurities for an open fermion chain

Employing the graded versions of the Yang-Baxter equation and the reflection equations, we construct two kinds of integrable impurities for a small-polaron model with general open boundary conditions: (a) we shift the spectral parameter of the local Lax operator at arbitrary sites in the bulk, and (b) we embed the impurity fermion vertex at each boundary of the chain. The Hamiltonians with different types of impurity terms are given explicitly. The Bethe ansatz equations, as well as the eigenvalues of the Hamiltonians, are constructed by means of the quantum inverse scattering method. In addition, we discuss the ground-state properties in the thermodynamic limit.

nlin.SI↗