We study the low energy physics of a Kondo chain where electrons from a one-dimensional band interact with magnetic moments via an anisotropic exchange interaction. It is demonstrated that the anisotropy gives rise to two different phases which are s
eparated by a quantum phase transition. In the phase with easy plane anisotropy, Z$_2$ symmetry between sectors with different helicity of the electrons is broken. As a result, localization effects are suppressed and the dc transport acquires (partial) symmetry protection. This effect is similar to the protection of the edge transport in time-reversal invariant topological insulators. The phase with easy axis anisotropy corresponds to the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid with a pronounced spin-charge separation. The slow charge density wave modes have no protection against localizatioin.
Ballistic transport of helical edge modes in two-dimensional topological insulators is protected by time-reversal symmetry. Recently it was pointed out [1] that coupling of non-interacting helical electrons to an array of randomly anisotropic Kondo i
mpurities can lead to a spontaneous breaking of the symmetry and, thus, can remove this protection. We have analyzed effects of the interaction between the electrons using a combination of the functional and the Abelian bosonization approaches. The suppression of the ballistic transport turns out to be robust in a broad range of the interaction strength. We have evaluated the renormalization of the localization length and have found that, for strong interaction, it is substantial. We have identified various regimes of the dc transport and discussed its temperature and sample size dependencies in each of the regimes.
We study an asymptotic behavior of the return probability for the critical random matrix ensemble in the regime of strong multifractality. The return probability is expected to show critical scaling in the limit of large time or large system size. Us
ing the supersymmetric virial expansion we confirm the scaling law and find analytical expressions for the fractal dimension of the wave functions $d_2$ and the dynamical scaling exponent $mu$. By comparing them we verify the validity of the Chalkers ansatz for dynamical scaling.
We analyze dephasing by electron interactions in a small disordered quasi-one dimensional (1D) ring weakly coupled to leads, where we recently predicted a crossover for the dephasing time $tPh(T)$ from diffusive or ergodic 1D ($tPh^{-1} propto T^{2/3
}, T^{1}$) to $0D$ behavior ($tPh^{-1} propto T^{2}$) as $T$ drops below the Thouless energy $ETh$. We provide a detailed derivation of our results, based on an influence functional for quantum Nyquist noise, and calculate all leading and subleading terms of the dephasing time in the three regimes. Explicitly taking into account the Pauli blocking of the Fermi sea in the metal allows us to describe the $0D$ regime on equal footing as the others. The crossover to $0D$, predicted by Sivan, Imry and Aronov for 3D systems, has so far eluded experimental observation. We will show that for $T ll ETh$, $0D$ dephasing governs not only the $T$-dependence for the smooth part of the magnetoconductivity but also for the amplitude of the Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations, which result only from electron paths winding around the ring. This observation can be exploited to filter out and eliminate contributions to dephasing from trajectories which do not wind around the ring, which may tend to mask the $T^{2}$ behavior. Thus, the ring geometry holds promise of finally observing the crossover to $0D$ experimentally.
We study dephasing by electron interactions in a small disordered quasi-one dimensional (1D) ring weakly coupled to leads. We use an influence functional for quantum Nyquist noise to describe the crossover for the dephasing time $Tph (T)$ from diffus
ive or ergodic 1D ($ Tph^{-1} propto T^{2/3}, T^{1}$) to 0D behavior ($Tph^{-1} propto T^{2}$) as $T$ drops below the Thouless energy. The crossover to 0D, predicted earlier for 2D and 3D systems, has so far eluded experimental observation. The ring geometry holds promise of meeting this longstanding challenge, since the crossover manifests itself not only in the smooth part of the magnetoconductivity but also in the amplitude of Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations. This allows signatures of dephasing in the ring to be cleanly extracted by filtering out those of the leads.
We develop a new approach to the theoretical treatment of the separatrix chaos, using a special analysis of the separatrix map. The approach allows us to describe boundaries of the separatrix chaotic layer in the Poincar{e} section and transport with
in the layer. We show that the maximum which the width of the layer in energy takes as the perturbation frequency varies is much larger than the perturbation amplitude, in contrast to predictions by earlier theories suggesting that the maximum width is of the order of the amplitude. The approach has also allowed us to develop the self-consistent theory of the earlier discovered (PRL 90, 174101 (2003)) drastic facilitation of the onset of global chaos between adjacent separatrices. Simulations agree with the theory.
