Coherence, Noise and Cross-Correlations in Nanosystems

技术综述：该奖项支持相干介观和纳米电子系统的量子力学的理论和计算研究。研究的重点将是弹道电子设备中的电荷和自旋输运，以及由金属纳米颗粒与超导体接触的混合系统的光谱。其中几个关键问题涉及凝聚态物理的基本重要方面，例如传输的相干性和通过电子微结构的干涉测量。由于不完全屏蔽的库仑相互作用，以及它们在电子动力学中产生的非线性，我们将特别关注电荷的局部波动。将寻求和研究产生、操纵和检测纯自旋流和极化自旋流的创新机制，以及如何将其用于信息处理。将在混合结构中探索非传统超导的新方面，并将建议进行实验，以帮助解决由铜酸盐超导体的正常态和超导态构成的持久谜团。统计分析技术将被彻底应用于这些现象的研究。除了已建立的数值方法，如精确对角化、递归矩阵求逆或基于快速傅立叶变换的量子时间演化，将发明、开发和应用具有广泛适用性的新计算技术，研究生和博士后研究人员将参与该项目的所有方面。这项研究将通过直接参与对被调查量子系统的经典对应物的数值调查，对本科生的学习产生影响，无论是在学士学位一学期独立研究的课程要求的背景下。在物理方面，或者在暑期实习期间。非技术总结：该奖项支持介观和纳米尺度电子系统的理论和计算研究，重点关注量子力学产生的新现象。这项研究的重点是电子的基本性质如何通过纳米和介观的体干移动。这些不仅是电子携带的电荷，也是电子的“自旋”。自旋是电子的一种量子力学性质；由于自旋，电子可以被看作是一块非常微小的磁铁。了解如何在纳米尺度上操纵电子电荷和自旋，有助于为新兴的“自旋电子学”领域及其可能产生的电子设备奠定智力基础。这项研究还有助于将基于量子力学的思想应用于计算或量子信息科学。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This award supports theoretical and computational research on the quantum mechanics of coherent meso- and nano-scale electronic systems. Investigations will focus on charge and spin transport in ballistic electronic devices, as well as on the spectroscopy of hybrid systems made of metallic nanograins in contact with a superconductor. Several of the key questions relate to fundamentally important aspects of condensed matter physics, such as coherence in transport and interferometry through electronic microstructures. Special attention will be devoted to local fluctuations of charge, due to imperfectly screened Coulomb interactions, and the nonlinearities they generate in electron dynamics. Innovative mechanisms for the creation, manipulation and detection of pure and polarized spin currents and how to use them for information processing will be sought and investigated. Novel aspects of unconventional superconductivity will be probed in hybrid structures, and experiments will be suggested to help solve persistent enigmas posed by the normal and superconducting states of the cuprate superconductors. Statistical analytical techniques will be thoroughly applied to the study of these phenomena. In parallel to established numerical approaches such as exact diagonalization, recursive matrix inversions or quantal time evolution based on Fast-Fourier transform, new computational techniques with broad applicability will be invented, developed and appliedGraduate students and postdoctoral researchers will participate in all aspects of the project. The research will have impact on undergraduate learning through direct involvement in numerical investigations of classical counterparts of the quantum systems under investigation, either in the context of the curricular requirement of a semester of independent research for the BS. in physics, or during summer internships. The PI is actively working to engage members of underrepresented minorities in every facet of his research activities.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This award supports theoretical and computational research on the meso- and nano-scale electronic systems with a focus on novel phenomena that arise as a consequence of quantum mechanics. The research has a focus on how fundamental properties of electrons move through nanoscopic and mesoscopic stystems. These are not only the electric charge carried by the electron but also its "spin." Spin is a quantum mechanical property of the electron; because of spin the electron can be viewed as a very tiny magnet. Understanding how to manipulate electron charge and spin on the nanoscale contributes to the intellectual foundation of the emerging field of "spintronics" and the electronic devices that might result. This research also contributes to the application of ideas based in quantum mechanics to computation, or quantum information science.