Charge Fractionalization in nonchiral Luttinger systems

Details Charge Fractionalization in nonchiral Luttinger systems Charge Fractionalization in nonchiral Luttinger systems

2008-03-05

arxiv.org/abs/0803.0744v2

Annals of Physics 323, 3037-3058 (2008); this theory paper is related to the experimental work published in Nature Physics 4,

Physics

Condensed Matter

Strongly Correlated Electrons

31 pages, final version to appear in Annals of Physics

Scientific paper

One-dimensional metals, such as quantum wires or carbon nanotubes, can carry charge in arbitrary units, smaller or larger than a single electron charge. However, according to Luttinger theory, which describes the low-energy excitations of such systems, when a single electron is injected by tunneling into the middle of such a wire, it will tend to break up into separate charge pulses, moving in opposite directions, which carry definite fractions $f$ and $(1-f)$ of the electron charge, determined by a parameter $g$ that measures the strength of charge interactions in the wire. (The injected electron will also produce a spin excitation, which will travel at a different velocity than the charge excitations.) Observing charge fractionalization physics in an experiment is a challenge in those (nonchiral) low-dimensional systems which are adiabatically coupled to Fermi liquid leads. We theoretically discuss a first important step towards the observation of charge fractionalization in quantum wires based on momentum-resolved tunneling and multi-terminal geometries, and explain the recent experimental results of H. Steinberg {\it et al.}, Nature Physics {\bf 4}, 116 (2008).

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Charge Fractionalization in nonchiral Luttinger systems does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Charge Fractionalization in nonchiral Luttinger systems, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Charge Fractionalization in nonchiral Luttinger systems will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-13171