2007/09/30 by Iva Březinová, Iva Brezinova, Christoph Stampfer +4
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum chaos and dynamical systems #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.77.165321
published as Phys. Rev. B 77, 165321 (2008) · 5 pages, 3 figures, final version with extended discussion and added references
openalex publication_date 2008/04/15 · arxiv created 2008/04/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We study the weak-localization effect in quantum transport through a clean ballistic cavity with regular classical dynamics. We address the question which paths account for the suppression of conductance through a system where disorder and chaos are absent. By exploiting both quantum and semiclassical methods, we unambiguously identify paths that are diffractively backscattered into the cavity (when approaching the lead mouths from the cavity interior) to play a key role. Diffractive scattering couples transmitted and reflected paths and is thus essential to reproduce the weak-localization peak in reflection and the corresponding antipeak in transmission. A comparison of semiclassical calculations featuring these diffractive paths yields good agreement with full quantum calculations and experimental data. Our theory provides system-specific predictions for the quantum regime of few open lead modes and can be expected to be relevant also for mixed as well as chaotic systems.