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Quantum phase transition in a resonant level coupled to interacting leads.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Mebrahtu, HT; Borzenets, IV; Liu, DE; Zheng, H; Bomze, YV; Smirnov, AI; Baranger, HU; Finkelstein, G
Published in: Nature
August 2012

A Luttinger liquid is an interacting one-dimensional electronic system, quite distinct from the 'conventional' Fermi liquids formed by interacting electrons in two and three dimensions. Some of the most striking properties of Luttinger liquids are revealed in the process of electron tunnelling. For example, as a function of the applied bias voltage or temperature, the tunnelling current exhibits a non-trivial power-law suppression. (There is no such suppression in a conventional Fermi liquid.) Here, using a carbon nanotube connected to resistive leads, we create a system that emulates tunnelling in a Luttinger liquid, by controlling the interaction of the tunnelling electron with its environment. We further replace a single tunnelling barrier with a double-barrier, resonant-level structure and investigate resonant tunnelling between Luttinger liquids. At low temperatures, we observe perfect transparency of the resonant level embedded in the interacting environment, and the width of the resonance tends to zero. We argue that this behaviour results from many-body physics of interacting electrons, and signals the presence of a quantum phase transition. Given that many parameters, including the interaction strength, can be precisely controlled in our samples, this is an attractive model system for studying quantum critical phenomena in general, with wide-reaching implications for understanding quantum phase transitions in more complex systems, such as cold atoms and strongly correlated bulk materials.

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Published In

Nature

DOI

EISSN

1476-4687

ISSN

0028-0836

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

488

Issue

7409

Start / End Page

61 / 64

Related Subject Headings

  • General Science & Technology
 

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Mebrahtu, H. T., Borzenets, I. V., Liu, D. E., Zheng, H., Bomze, Y. V., Smirnov, A. I., … Finkelstein, G. (2012). Quantum phase transition in a resonant level coupled to interacting leads. Nature, 488(7409), 61–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11265
Mebrahtu, Henok T., Ivan V. Borzenets, Dong E. Liu, Huaixiu Zheng, Yuriy V. Bomze, Alex I. Smirnov, Harold U. Baranger, and Gleb Finkelstein. “Quantum phase transition in a resonant level coupled to interacting leads.Nature 488, no. 7409 (August 2012): 61–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11265.
Mebrahtu HT, Borzenets IV, Liu DE, Zheng H, Bomze YV, Smirnov AI, et al. Quantum phase transition in a resonant level coupled to interacting leads. Nature. 2012 Aug;488(7409):61–4.
Mebrahtu, Henok T., et al. “Quantum phase transition in a resonant level coupled to interacting leads.Nature, vol. 488, no. 7409, Aug. 2012, pp. 61–64. Epmc, doi:10.1038/nature11265.
Mebrahtu HT, Borzenets IV, Liu DE, Zheng H, Bomze YV, Smirnov AI, Baranger HU, Finkelstein G. Quantum phase transition in a resonant level coupled to interacting leads. Nature. 2012 Aug;488(7409):61–64.
Journal cover image

Published In

Nature

DOI

EISSN

1476-4687

ISSN

0028-0836

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

488

Issue

7409

Start / End Page

61 / 64

Related Subject Headings

  • General Science & Technology