Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Time Loop Formalism For Irreversible Quantum Problems Steady State Transport in ASSYMETRIC Junctions PDF
Time Loop Formalism For Irreversible Quantum Problems Steady State Transport in ASSYMETRIC Junctions PDF
Non-Hermitian formulations of quantum-mechanical evolution operators for each direction. One could argue that
problems have attracted substantial interest in almost all ar- the time evolution operator is the same along the full path, as
in the Hermitian case, ÛK共t , t0兲 = Û+Û− = TKe−i兰t0dt⬘H共t⬘兲 共where
eas of physics. In most cases, nonunitary approaches are uti- t ˆ
lized to describe irreversible processes—such as decay and TK is the time-ordering operator along the Keldysh contour兲,
dissipation—in open quantum systems. This kind of prob- which preserves the normalization along the contour,
lems has been addressed since the early days of quantum
mechanics when the complex eigenvalue method was pio- ÛK共t+0 , t−0 兲 = 1. This would mean that the time evolution would
neered to describe the ␣ decay of nuclei.1,2 Since then, non- be governed by Ĥ on both branches. Even though this choice
unitary approaches have been applied to theories of K and B ensures that the backward evolution is the algebraic inverse
meson decay,3,4 scattering and absorption of particles by of the forward one and it may seem a good choice, we should
nuclei,5 nuclear reactions,6,7 multiphoton ionization of emphasize that it does not describe the physical process
atoms,8,9 optical resonators,10 and free-electron lasers.11 faithfully. Physically, in the backward branch, the system
Growth models have been investigated by mapping a master should rewind its forward evolution and therefore Ĥ† should
equation into a Shrödinger equation with a non-Hermitian be the operator that dictates the dynamics. Then the back-
Hamiltonian.12 In the last decade, non-Hermitian theories ward time evolution operator is given by Û+共t0 , t兲 = Û−†共t , t0兲
were also applied to condensed-matter systems with
= T̃ei兰t0dt⬘H 共t⬘兲 ⫽ Û−−1共t , t0兲, which is automatically antitime
t ˆ†
localization-delocalization transitions. Pinning/depinning of
flux lines from columnar defects was studied13 in type-II ordered 共with T̃ representing the antitime-ordering
superconductors, and the effects of a single columnar defect operator兲.32 Of course, one recovers the familiar result in the
on fluctuating flux lines was considered by mapping to a Hermitian case. We see that a double-time approach is essen-
non-Hermitian Luttinger liquid model and using the density- tial and rather natural for non-Hermitian problems. Thus, the
matrix renormalization group 共DMRG兲.14 Generalized + branch is governed by the Hermitian conjugate theory and
DMRG has been applied also to a one-dimensional reaction- the time-ordered Green’s function 共G−−兲 is mapped into the
diffusion model with nonunitary time evolution15 and a non- antitime-ordered one 共G++兲 by Hermitian conjugation, which
Hermitian spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain.16 The closing of the is all natural and unambiguous in a time-loop formalism.
Mott gap has been investigated in the non-Hermitian Hub- This makes an extended SK method an appealing choice.33
bard model17 and evaporatively cooled Bose-Einstein con- To illustrate the formalism, we shall study a simple model
densates 共BECs兲 have been studied by a nonunitary quantum of a single-mode asymmetric tunneling junction 共see inset of
dynamics approach.18 All of the above studies use a variety Fig. 2兲, which captures essential aspects of irreversibility. A
of case-specific methods and are mainly concerned with ei- similar model has been studied in connection with spin-valve
ther time-independent or transient behaviors. In addition, devices.21 We shall study the steady-state transport of the
usually a particular class of non-Hermitian problems is dis-
cussed, a case when the energy eigenstates have only nega- Û− G−− G+−
tive imaginary parts 共thus describing only decay or dissipa-
tion兲. In this paper we present a framework that we apply to −
a steady-state formulation of an irreversible system. + t
++ −+
To define our approach we start with the Schwinger- †
Û+ = Û− G G
Keldysh 共SK兲 formalism,19,20 which turns out to be very
natural in the non-Hermitian case. In the SK formulation, the FIG. 1. 共Color online兲 Sketch of the Keldysh contour. The ar-
evolution of a system is described on a time loop 共Keldysh rows show the direction of the time evolution. Here G−− is the
contour, K兲 with “forward” 共“−”兲 and “backward” 共“+”兲 di- time-ordered Green’s function, G++ is the antitime-ordered Green’s
rections 共see Fig. 1兲, thus defining two distinct branches for function, G+− is the “greater” Green’s function, and G−+ is the
time evolution. Special care should be taken to define proper “lesser” Green’s function.
冢 冣
− sL − itL sL − 1 0
0.04
G−1共兲 − itR − sR 0 sR − 1
= , 共4兲
0.02 − 2vi sL + 1 0 − sL itRⴱ
0 sR + 1 itLⴱ − sR
IGQ
0.00
−
where sr = tanh 2Tr r . Here, we assumed that the leads are in
0.02 equilibrium at their respective chemical potentials 共L and
R兲 and temperatures 共TL and TR兲.
0.04 Using Green’s functions, we can calculate the transport
properties of a generic AJ. By comparing to the symmetric
6 4 2 0 2 4 6 junction 共SJ兲 case, one sees the effects due to the nonunitary
V nature of the tunneling dynamics.
Current—We first describe a current flowing across the
FIG. 2. 共Color online兲 Current, I, as a function of voltage, V, for junction. We expect that there should be an asymmetry be-
different temperatures 共in arbitrary units兲. The current is shown for tween positive and negative voltage bias. We define the cur-
tR = tL = 0.05 and tR = tL = 0.03 共SJ case, dotted lines兲, for tR = 0.05 and rent operator in the usual way by Î = 21 t⌬N̂, where ⌬N̂ = N̂R
tL = 0.03 共dashed lines兲, and for tR = 0.05 and tL = 0 共solid lines兲. The
temperature increases from bottom to top and GQ indicates the
− N̂L, and N̂L and N̂R are the particle number operators for the
quantum of conductance. Inset: Sketch of the tunneling setup. left and right leads, respectively. While the current operator
is defined by the above formula, for an AJ the definition
needs to be supplemented by specifying on which branch ⌬N̂
system. The Hamiltonian of the model is given by Ĥ = Ĥ0 resides. On the − branch, the current operator is given by
+ Ĥt, where Î− = 21 t⌬N̂− = 2i 关Ĥ , ⌬N̂−兴, since Ĥ governs the time evolution
冕
on this branch. This prompts us to use the time-ordered
Ĥ0 = 兺
r=R,L
Ĥ0,r = − iv 兺
r=R,L
dxˆ r†共x兲xˆ r共x兲 共1兲 共“−−” component兲 Green’s functions for calculations. The
current is thus given by 共cf. Ref. 24兲
033103-2
BRIEF REPORTS PHYSICAL REVIEW B 78, 033103 共2008兲
1.0 0.10
0.8 0.08
0.6 0.06
S2GQ
GGQ
0.4 0.04
0.2 0.02
0.0 0.00
0 0.5 1 0.5 0 10 5 0 5 10
tR tR 1 V
FIG. 4. 共Color online兲 Current noise power, S共 = 0兲, as a func-
FIG. 3. 共Color online兲 Large-voltage conductance as a function
tion of voltage, V, for different temperatures 共in arbitrary units兲. The
of tunneling strength 共tR兲 for a SJ, t = tR 共dotted line兲, and in the
line styles and parameters are the same as in Fig. 2.
extreme AJ case, tL = 0 共solid line兲.
+ −
transforming, we get the current noise power Our calculations on the backward branch yield IQ = IQ = IQ, in
exact analogy with the result for the electric current. In the
S共兲
2 = 兺 trtr 关共Grr ⴰ Gr⬘r⬘兲 + 共Gr⬘r⬘ ⴰ Grr 兲兴
ⴱ +− −+ −+ +− SJ case, we obtain the well-known result28 IQ = K⌬T with
4v 2T̄兩t兩2
r⫽r ⬘ K = 3共1+兩t兩 2兲 2 , where ⌬T = TL − TR and T̄ = 共TR + TL兲 / 2. The
− 兺 trtrⴱ⬘关共Gr+−⬘r ⴰ Gr−+⬘r兲 + 共Gr−+⬘r ⴰ Gr+−⬘r兲兴, Wiedemann-Franz law holds and is given by K / 共GT̄兲
= 2 / 3 ⬅ L0, the Lorentz number.
r⫽r⬘
In general, if bias voltages and temperature gradients are
where the correlation product 共G1 ⴰ G2兲共兲 is defined as applied, the electric and heat currents are given by
usual.26 In the SJ limit, we get the well established result25
I = L11V + L12⌬T + I0 ,
V
S共 = 0兲 = 8G2T + 2G共1 − 2G兲V coth . 共7兲
2T IQ = L21V + L22⌬T. 共10兲
The dependence of S共 = 0兲 on bias voltage and temperature For the SJ case, L11 = G, L22 = K, and L12 = L21 = 0, so no ther-
for weak tunneling is shown in Fig. 4. The results show moelectric effects are observed. For the AJ case, expanding
similar asymmetric behavior as for the current. For large the result to linear order in V and ⌬T, we see that still L12
voltages, the behavior of the noise power is similar to that of = L21 = 0. 共Notice that thermoelectric effects are observed in
the SJ with the corresponding tunneling rate 共in exact anal- this case but not at the linear order.兲 In terms of the transport
033103-3
BRIEF REPORTS PHYSICAL REVIEW B 78, 033103 共2008兲
coefficients, the Lorentz number is defined as L22 / 共L11T̄兲. observables goes along with our physical expectations for
Our calculations show deviations from the Wiedemann-Franz the model. The approach is not limited to systems with
law. This behavior is due to the same effects as in the case of steady states and can be used to address general nonequilib-
the conductance and the presence of the nonzero I0 for the AJ rium situations. We intend to apply it, for instance, to study
case; L0 ⯝ 2 / 3 for small tunneling strengths, but it increases the formation and evaporation dynamics of interacting
as the strength increases. BECs, where a steady state is not achieved, and explore re-
We have presented a minimal extension of the Schwinger- gimes 共e.g., the unitary limit兲 that are not accessible with
Keldysh formalism to systems with non-Hermitian Hamilto- present methods.
nians and have shown that it is a natural choice for such
applications. As an example, we have studied a simple model We would like to acknowledge discussions with J. Kono
of an asymmetric tunneling junction where irreversibility is and A. Srivastava, which inspired this work. This work was
explicitly encoded into the Hamiltonian; hence making it partly supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation, Welch
non-Hermitian. We have calculated the steady-state transport Foundation and DARPA/ARO 共Grant No. W911NF-07-1-
properties of the junction and seen that the behavior of the 0464兲.
1 G. Gamow, Z. Phys. 51, 204 共1928兲. plications, Lecture Notes in Nanoscale Science and Technology
2 R. W. Gurney and E. U. Condon, Nature 共London兲 122, 439 Vol. 2, edited by Z. K. Tang and P. Sheng 共Springer, New York,
共1928兲. 2008兲; Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 013115 共2005兲
3 T. D. Lee, R. Oehme, and C. N. Yang, Phys. Rev. 106, 340 22 A. O. Gogolin, A. A. Nersesyan, and A. M. Tsvelik, Bosoniza-
Phys. Rev. A 37, 4326 共1988兲. ementary Particle Physics, edited by F. Gürsey 共Gordon and
12
L.-H. Gwa and H. Spohn, Phys. Rev. A 46, 844 共1992兲. Breach, New York, 1964兲.
13
N. Hatano and D. R. Nelson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 570 共1996兲; 32
The described ambiguity in the definition of the evolution opera-
Phys. Rev. B 56, 8651 共1997兲. tor stems form the convention arbitrariness of the time-
14 I. Affleck, W. Hofstetter, D. R. Nelson, and U. Schollwöck, J.
independent density matrix for non-Hermitian problems 共Refs.
Stat. Mech.: Theory Exp. 2004, P10003. 14 and 29兲. Our identification singles out a particular choice,
15
E. Carlon, M. Henkel, and U. Schollwöck, Eur. Phys. J. B 12, 99 which describes the correct time evolution within the SK for-
共1999兲. malism.
16
M. Kaulke and I. Peschel, Eur. Phys. J. B 5, 727 共1998兲. 33
We would like to point out another formalism with a doubled
17 T. Fukui and N. Kawakami, Phys. Rev. B 58, 16051 共1998兲.
time basis that has been applied to transients in irreversible
18 P. D. Drummond and J. F. Corney, Phys. Rev. A 60, R2661
quantum dynamics 共Ref. 30兲, in which the doubling of the states
共1999兲. is related to the time-reversal invariance properties and the state-
19 J. Schwinger, J. Math. Phys. 2, 407 共1961兲.
space doubling described by Wigner 共Ref. 31兲.
20 L. V. Keldysh, Sov. Phys. JETP 20, 1018 共1965兲. 34 The asymmetry described here refers to the non-Hermitian dy-
21 S. Datta, in Nanoscale Phenomena: Basic Science to Device Ap-
namics of the junction.
033103-4