N=2 boundary supersymmetry in integrable models and perturbed boundary conformal field theory

Boundary integrable models with N=2 supersymmetry are considered. For the simplest boundary N=2 superconformal minimal model with a Chebyshev bulk perturbation we show explicitly how fermionic boundary degrees of freedom arise naturally in the boundary perturbation in order to maintain integrability and N=2 supersymmetry. A new boundary reflection matrix is obtained for this model and N=2 boundary superalgebra is studied. A factorized scattering theory is proposed for a N=2 supersymmetric extension of the boundary sine-Gordon model with either (i) fermionic or (ii) bosonic and fermionic boundary degrees of freedom. Exact results are obtained for some quantum impurity problems: the boundary scaling Lee–Yang model, a massive deformation of the anisotropic Kondo model at the filling values g=2/(2n+3) and the boundary Ashkin–Teller model.     

Measuring Luttinger liquid correlations from charge fluctuations in a nanoscale structure

We suggest an experiment to study Luttinger liquid behavior in a one-dimensional nanostructure, avoiding the usual complications associated with transport measurements. The proposed setup consists of a quantum box, biased by a gate voltage, and side coupled to a quantum wire by a point contact. Close to the degeneracy points of the Coulomb blockaded box, and in the presence of a magnetic field sufficiently strong to spin polarize the electrons, the setup can be described as a Luttinger liquid interacting with an effective Kondo impurity. Using exact nonperturbative techniques, we predict that the differential capacitance of the box will exhibit distinctive Luttinger liquid scaling with temperature and gate voltage.     

Flow equations for the one-dimensional Kondo lattice model: static and dynamic ground state properties

The one-dimensional Kondo lattice model is investigated by means of Wegner's flow equation method. The renormalization procedure leads to an effective Hamiltonian which describes a free one-dimensional electron gas and a Heisenberg chain. The localised spins of the effective model are coupled by the well-known RKKY interaction. They are treated within a Schwinger boson mean field theory which permits the calculation of static and dynamic correlation functions. In the regime of small interaction strength static expectation values agree well with the expected Luttinger liquid behaviour. The parameter K_ρ of the Luttinger liquid theory is estimated and compared to recent results from density matrix renormalization group studies.     

Quantum transport through anisotropic molecular magnets: Hubbard Green function approach

We extend the Green function approach to quantum transport through an anisotropic molecular magnet system with the help of Hubbard operators. Based on the single molecular magnet model, we reformulate the large spin and the total Hamiltonian in the language of Hubbard operators and obtain analytical expressions of the retarded Green function in sequential tunneling and Kondo regimes. In addition to this, we show the connection of our method to the master equation method in sequential regime and discuss a simple isotropic case in Kondo regime, in which we find a three-peak Kondo structure, a feature characterizing the isotropic exchange interaction between the localized electron and large spin.     

The Kondo Problem as the Quantum Sine-Gordon Model

The ground-state properties of the Kondo Hamiltonian is analyzed in detail and we find the problem to be exactly equivalent to a modified quantum sine-Gordon model. Paralleling to the renormalization-group theory of the sine-Gordon model, we easily derive the correct next-to-leading order flow equations and obtain a universal quantity in a linear combination of the coefficients of the higher-order terms.     

The low-energy limiting behavior of the pseudofermion dynamical theory

In this paper we show that the general finite-energy spectral-function expressions provided by the pseudofermion dynamical theory for the one-dimensional Hubbard model lead to the expected low-energy Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid correlation function expressions. Moreover, we use the former general expressions to derive correlation-function asymptotic expansions in space and time which go beyond those obtained by conformal-field theory and bosonization: we derive explicit expressions for the pre-factors of all terms of such expansions and find that they have an universal form, as the corresponding critical exponents. Our results refer to all finite values of the on-site repulsion U and to a chain of length L very large and with periodic boundary conditions for the above model, but are of general nature for many integrable interacting models. The studies of this paper clarify the relation of the low-energy Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid behavior to the scattering mechanisms which control the spectral properties at all energy scales and provide a broader understanding of the unusual properties of quasi-one-dimensional nanostructures, organic conductors, and optical lattices of ultracold fermionic atoms. Furthermore, our results reveal the microscopic mechanisms which are behind the similarities and differences of the low-energy and finite-energy spectral properties of the model metallic phase.     

Continuous quantum phase transition in a Kndo lattice model

We study the magnetic quantum phase transition in an anisotropic Kondo lattice model. The dynamical competition between the RKKY and Kondo interactions is treated using an extended dynamic mean field theory appropriate for both the antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. A quantum Monte Carlo approach is used, which is able to reach very low temperatures, of the order of 1% of the bare Kondo scale. We find that the finite-temperature magnetic transition, which occurs for sufficiently large RKKY interactions, is first order. The extrapolated zero-temperature magnetic transition, on the other hand, is continuous and locally critical.     

The two-boundary sine-Gordon model

We study in this paper the ground state energy of a free bosonic theory on a finite interval of length R with either a pair of sine-Gordon type or a pair of Kondo type interactions at each boundary. This problem has potential applications in condensed matter (current through superconductor–Luttinger liquid–superconductor junctions) as well as in open string theory (tachyon condensation). While the application of Bethe ansatz techniques to this problem is in principle well known, considerable technical difficulties are encountered. These difficulties arise mainly from the way the bare couplings are encoded in the reflection matrices, and require complex analytic continuations, which we carry out in detail in a few cases.     

Exact solution of a massless scalar field with a relevant boundary interaction

We solve exactly the “boundary sine-Gordon” system of a massless scalar field with a potential at a boundary. This model has appeared in several contexts, including tunneling between quantum-Hall edge states and in dissipative quantum mechanics. For β² < 8π, this system exhibits a boundary renormalization-group flow from Neumann to Dirichlet boundary conditions. By taking the massless limit of the sine-Gordon model with boundary potential, we find the exact S-matrix for particles scattering off the boundary. Using the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz, we calculate the boundary entropy along the entire flow. We show how these particles correspond to wave packets in the classical Klein-Gordon equation, thus giving a more precise explanation of scattering in a massless theory.     

Magnetic and non-magnetic ground states of the Kondo lattice

We use the variational method to investigate the ground state phase diagram of the Kondo lattice Hamiltonian for arbitraryJ/W, and conduction electron concentrationn _c (J is the Kondo coupling andW the bandwidth). We are particularly interested in the question under which circumstances the globally singlet (collective Kondo) Fermi liquid type ground state becomes unstable against magnetic ordering. For the collective Kondo singlet we use the lattice generalization of Yosida's wavefunction which implies the existence of a large Fermi volume, in accordance with Luttinger's theorem. Using the Gutzwiller approximation, we derive closed-form results for the ground state energy at arbitraryJ/W andn _c, and for the Kondo gap atn _c=1. We introduce simple trial states to describe ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and spiral ordering in the small-J (RKKY) regime, and Nagaoka type ferromagnetism at largeJ/W. We study three particular cases: a band with a constant density of states, and the (tight binding) linear chain, and square lattice periodic Kondo models. We find that the lattice enhancement of the Kondo effect, which is described in our theory of the Fermi liquid state, pushes the RKKY-to-nonmagnetic phase boundary to much smaller values ofJ/W than it was previously thought. In our study of the square lattice case, we also find a region of itinerant, Nagaoka-type ferromagnetism at largeJ/W forn _c 1/3.     

Critical boundary sine-Gordon revisited

We revisit the exact solution of the two space-time dimensional quantum field theory of a free massless boson with a periodic boundary interaction and self-dual period. We analyze the model by using a mapping to free fermions with a boundary mass term originally suggested in Ref. [J. Polchinski, L. Thorlacius, Phys. Rev. D 50 (1994) 622]. We find that the entire SL (2, C) family of boundary states of a single boson are boundary sine-Gordon states and we derive a simple explicit expression for the boundary state in fermion variables and as a function of sine-Gordon coupling constants. We use this expression to compute the partition function. We observe that the solution of the model has a strong–weak coupling generalization of T-duality. We then examine a class of recently discovered conformal boundary states for compact bosons with radii which are rational numbers times the self-dual radius. These have simple expression in fermion variables. We postulate sine-Gordon-like field theories with discrete gauge symmetries for which they are the appropriate boundary states.     

Kosterlitz-thouless transition and self-duality in three dimensions

A class of self-dual globally symmetric Z_N models in three dimensions is presented. The limit N → ∞ is a type of anisotropic U(1) model (XY model) dual to a gas of integer point charges, interacting via a logarithmic potential in three dimensions. The latter is, at low temperature, nothing but a sine-Gordon theory with an anisotropic, logarithmic propagator. It therefore has a low-temperature Kosterlitz-Thouless phase and KT phase transition to a massive phase.The relation of the U(1) model to the thermodynamics of a helical magnet along the ferromagnetic-helical phase boundary in zero applied field (or to the smectic A to amectic C phase boundary in a liquid crystal) is indicated.     

Full counting statistics for the Kondo dot

The generating function for the cumulants of charge current distribution is calculated for two generalized Majorana resonant level models: the Kondo dot at the Toulouse point and the resonant level embedded in a Luttinger liquid with the interaction parameter g=1/2. We find that the low-temperature nonequilibrium transport in the Kondo case occurs via tunneling of physical electrons as well as by coherent transmission of electron pairs. We calculate the third cumulant ("skewness") explicitly and analyze it for different couplings, temperatures, and magnetic fields. For the g=1/2 setup the statistics simplifies and is given by a modified version of the Levitov-Lesovik formula.     

Why could electron spin resonance be observed in a heavy fermion Kondo lattice?

We develop a theoretical basis for understanding the spin relaxation processes in Kondo lattice systems with heavy fermions as experimentally observed by electron spin resonance (ESR). The Kondo effect leads to a common energy scale that regulates a logarithmic divergence of different spin kinetic coefficients and supports a collective spin motion of the Kondo ions with conduction electrons. We find that the relaxation rate of a collective spin mode is greatly reduced due to a mutual cancellation of all the divergent contributions even in the case of the strongly anisotropic Kondo interaction. The contribution to the ESR linewidth caused by the local magnetic field distribution is subject to motional narrowing supported by ferromagnetic correlations. The developed theoretical model successfully explains the ESR data of YbRh₂Si₂ in terms of their dependence on temperature and magnetic field.     

Dynamical symmetries in Kondo tunneling through complex quantum dots

Kondo tunneling reveals hidden SO(n) dynamical symmetries of evenly occupied quantum dots. As is exemplified for an experimentally realizable triple quantum dot in parallel geometry, the possible values n=3,4,5,7 can be easily tuned by gate voltages. Following construction of the corresponding o(n) algebras, scaling equations are derived and Kondo temperatures are calculated. The symmetry group for a magnetic field induced anisotropic Kondo tunneling is SU(2) or SO(4).     

Random field effects in field-driven quantum critical points

We investigate the role of disorder for field-driven quantum phase transitions of metallic antiferromagnets. For systems with sufficiently low symmetry, the combination of a uniform external field and non-magnetic impurities leads effectively to a random magnetic field which strongly modifies the behavior close to the critical point. Using perturbative renormalization group, we investigate in which regime of the phase diagram the disorder affects critical properties. In heavy fermion systems where even weak disorder can lead to strong fluctuations of the local Kondo temperature, the random field effects are especially pronounced. We study possible manifestation of random field effects in experiments and discuss in this light neutron scattering results for the field driven quantum phase transition in CeCu_5.8Au_0.2.     

Field induced magnetic ordering transition in Kondo insulators

We study the 2D Kondo insulators in a uniform magnetic field using quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the particle-hole symmetric Kondo lattice model and a mean field analysis of the Periodic Anderson model. We find that the field induces a transition to an insulating, antiferromagnetically ordered phase with staggered moment in the plane perpendicular to the field. For fields in excess of the quasi-particle gap, corresponding to a metal in a simple band picture of the periodic Anderson model, we find that the metallic phase is unstable towards the spin density wave type ordering for any finite value of the interaction strength. This can be understood as a consequence of the perfect nesting of the particle and hole Fermi surfaces that emerge as the field closes the gap. We propose a phase diagram and investigate the quasi-particle and charge excitations in the magnetic field. We find good agreement between the mean-field and quantum Monte Carlo results.Received: 17 December 2003, Published online: 8 June 2004PACS: 71.27. + a Strongly correlated electron systems; heavy fermions - 71.10.Fd Lattice fermion models (Hubbard model, etc.) - 71.30. + h Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions - 75.30.Mb Valence fluctuation, Kondo lattice, and heavy-fermion phenomena - 75.30.Fv Spin-density waves     

Finite size effects in the spin-1 XXZ and supersymmetric sine-Gordon models with Dirichlet boundary conditions

Starting from the Bethe Ansatz solution of the open integrable spin-1 XXZ quantum spin chain with diagonal boundary terms, we derive a set of nonlinear integral equations (NLIEs), which we propose to describe the boundary supersymmetric sine-Gordon model BSSG⁺ with Dirichlet boundary conditions on a finite interval. We compute the corresponding boundary S matrix, and find that it coincides with the one proposed by Bajnok, Palla and Takács for the Dirichlet BSSG⁺ model. We derive a relation between the (UV) parameters in the boundary conditions and the (IR) parameters in the boundary S matrix. By computing the boundary vacuum energy, we determine a previously unknown parameter in the scattering theory. We solve the NLIEs numerically for intermediate values of the interval length, and find agreement with our analytical result for the effective central charge in the UV limit and with boundary conformal perturbation theory.     

Scaling and enhanced symmetry at the quantum critical point of the sub-ohmic Bose-Fermi Kondo model

We consider the finite-temperature scaling properties of a Kondo-destroying quantum critical point in the Ising-anisotropic Bose-Fermi Kondo model (BFKM). A cluster-updating Monte Carlo approach is used, in order to reliably access a wide temperature range. The scaling function for the two-point spin correlator is found to have the form dictated by a boundary conformal field theory, even though the underlying Hamiltonian lacks conformal invariance. Similar conclusions are reached for all multipoint correlators of the spin-isotropic BFKM in a dynamical large-N limit. Our results suggest that the quantum critical local properties of the sub-Ohmic BFKM are those of an underlying boundary conformal field theory.