Aharonov-Bohm effect and electron correlation in quantum dots

Transport through two quantum dots in parallel is studied theoretically in the presence of a magnetic flux between dots and in the limit of large one-electron level separations in each dot. Electron-electron scattering at a dot breaks the phase coherence of an electron in the tunneling process through the dot and suppresses the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations of the conductance. It is shown that the amplitude of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations depends strongly on the Fermi level relative to the resonant levels because of a two-electron phase interference.