Abstract
In order to investigate the effects of interference and interaction in adiabatic pumping, we consider an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer with a quantum dot embedded either in one or in both arms. We employ a real-time formalism and we perform an expansion both in the tunnel-coupling strengths between dot and leads and in the pumping frequency, taking into account the Coulomb interaction nonperturbatively. We find that pumping in a single-dot AB interferometer has a peristaltic but phase-coherent character. In a double-dot AB interferometer, we find a pumping mechanism that relies purely on quantum-mechanical interference and has no classical counterpart.
- Received 31 August 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.81.085302
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