2007/08/31 by Markus Garst, M. Garst, Dmitry S. Novikov +3 · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Compressibility #Condensed matter physics #Conductance #Conductance quantum #Electrical resistivity and conductivity #Fermi liquid theory #Fermion #Luttinger liquid #Metal–insulator transition #Phase transition #Physics #Quantum #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum critical point #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Quantum phase transition #Quantum point contact #Quantum well #Superconductivity #Thermodynamics #Transition point #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.77.035128
published in Physical Review B 77(3) (American Physical Society) · 13 pages, 3 figures. Published version
openalex publication_date 2008/01/22 · arxiv created 2008/01/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We consider the two-terminal conductance of a one-dimensional Mott insulator undergoing the commensurate-incommensurate quantum phase transition to a conducting state. We treat the leads as Luttinger liquids. At a specific value of compressibility of the leads, corresponding to the Luther-Emery point, the conductance can be described in terms of the free propagation of noninteracting fermions with charge e∕√(2). At that point, the temperature dependence of the conductance across the quantum phase transition is described by a Fermi function. The deviation from the Luther-Emery point in the leads changes the temperature dependence qualitatively. In the metallic state, the low-temperature conductance is determined by the properties of the leads, and is described by the conventional Luttinger-liquid theory. In the insulating state, conductance occurs via activation of e∕√(2) charges, and is independent of the Luttinger-liquid compressibility.